Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY
by ShadowCell
Summary: AU rewrite. The year is CE 73, and the PLANTs and the Earth share an uneasy peace. But moving on is no small task for young ZAFT pilot Shinn Asuka, and a clandestine attack on the Armory 1 PLANT begins to turn Shinn's life upside down...
1. Phase 01: The Artist's Touch

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

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Disclaimer: _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED ASTRAY_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED MSV _and _SEED DESTINY MSV_ are the property of Bandai and Sunrise, not me. I make no money off this little venture. This is purely for entertainment purposes, and no copyright infringement is intended.

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Blah. I usually hate big long author's notes at the beginning of a story or chapter, but it would make less sense here to put them at the end, so I'll just have to suck it up.

I think _Gundam SEED_ and, more specifically, _Gundam SEED DESTINY_ suck. I have made this known to people. Some of _DESTINY_'s most ardent fans have, in their own way, challenged me to do better.

So I will.

Obviously, this is an alternate universe rewrite of _Gundam SEED DESTINY_, and to facilitate the major changes I will make to _DESTINY_, I have changed the ending, specifically the last two episodes, of _Gundam SEED_. Go read "Seeds of Shadows," the prologue that explains those changes to _SEED_'s ending, or else a lot of things here will be making you scratch your head. The subsequent fanfics that take place between "Seeds of Shadows" and this— "The Power to Protect," "Pain," and "Soldiers of Old"— are not exactly _necessary_ to know what's going on here, but it would probably help, since those three fanfics all go into setting the stage that this fanfic plays itself out on, as well as explaining what a significant portion of the cast is up to in between _SEED_ and _DESTINY_.

I will post a new chapter every Friday, or the soonest day thereafter should something arise on Friday to keep me from posting.

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Phase 01 - The Artist's Touch

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**June 15th, CE 71 - Onogoro Island, United Emirates of Orb**

_Explosions rattled the sky. Shrapnel and bits of dirt went flying. Screams and blasts split the air._

_Shinn Asuka struggled onward with his single suitcase, staggering through the undergrowth of Onogoro Island and scrambling towards civilization. His mother and father were right ahead of him. His mother was dragging Mayu by the arm. Far ahead, too far ahead, lay the port. Orb soldiers were directing panicked civilians into ships that would carry them to safety. Orb's M1 Astray mobile suits were falling, one by one, to the onslaughts of missiles and artillery and the seemingly limitless armies of Strike Daggers, descending from the sky on parachutes. Shinn glanced to his right through the trees, and saw an M1 fire up into the sky—and then a missile plowed into its chest, blowing it apart._

_Shinn's father stopped up ahead, as his family gasped for breath, looking around nervously. Shinn raced up beside him._

_"Dad!" he cried._

_"It's okay," his father assured his family, "their target is just the military base, right?"_

_In the sky, there was a mobile suit with blue wings fighting against three others. The blue-winged mobile suit dove out of the way of beam blasts from a cerulean mobile suit, standing on the back of a black flying machine, and fired back. An olive green mobile suit with an enormous green backpack dove in, wielding a huge scythe, but the blue-winged mobile suit dodged and fired down at the cerulean machine. An explosion ripped the air, and the Asukas huddled together as the ground shook. They raced away as the cerulean mobile suit fired back. The port was down below—almost there—_

_"Mayu!" Shinn's mother shouted. "Hurry!"_

_Mayu stumbled, and from her bag, her pink cell phone went clattering down the hill. She stopped, reaching after it as it fell._

_"My phone!" she exclaimed. Her mother tried to pull her forward._

_"Never mind that!" she shouted. Mayu tugged at her arm._

_"No!"_

_Shinn dropped his suitcase and leapt down the slope after it._

_In the sky, the blue-winged mobile suit fired._

_Shinn reached for Mayu's cell phone—_

_And then he was flying through the air with a burst of fire to his right. He screamed as he went tumbling down the slope, and slammed into the concrete ground down below, jarring every bone in his body._

_"Shit, casualties already!" an Orb soldier shouted, as the civilians began to panic. "Keep it together! There's still room in this boat! Let's go!"_

_An Orb officer ran to Shinn and helped him to his feet as he grunted in pain. "Are you alright?!" he asked, helping Shinn up. "Come on, this way!"_

_Shinn paused and looked back. "Wait," he murmured. "Mom, Dad...?"_

_Shinn gasped in horror as he found the hillside a smoldering crater._

_"Mayu!" he exclaimed, looking down. Mayu's arm was there, but that was all that could be seen. Shinn gasped in horror and rushed forward._

_"Wait!" the Orb officer cried, starting after him._

_Shinn stopped and stared down. Mayu's arm was all that was there._

_He looked up. Her body lay a few feet away, in a pool of blood, burning._

_Shinn gasped in horror again._

_He looked onward. His mother lay in a pool of blood as well, and his father was crushed to death beneath a tree._

_He fell to his knees, clutching Mayu's cell phone. Tears were coming down his face as he choked out sobs, reaching for Mayu's severed arm and finding himself unable to move. Tears fell onto his hands, into the dirt, into Mayu's blood, as his sobs came out in choking, wheezing gasps, as the smell of burning flesh and hair surrounded him and the sounds of the battle around him faded._

_Overhead, the black flier and the cerulean mobile suit roared by, and the Orb officer shielded himself from a gust of air. "Come on," he grunted as he tried to pull Shinn up to his feet._

_Shinn glowered up through teary, clouded eyes at the mobile suits fighting above him. He saw the blue-winged mobile suit. His cloudy eyes flashed._

_At last, he lifted his head back and screamed._

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**September 26th, CE 73 - Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation**

"Perhaps you didn't understand me, Mr. President. What I mean is that the time for complacency has ended."

The man stood in a cold, chilling, metallic room, with his back to an array of monitors, a glass of red wine in his hand. On the screen was a man in a trim, black suit, with a stern look on his face.

"I fail to see how we are being complacent, Djibril," the man on the screen said. "With the world the way it is now—"

Lord Djibril turned to face Joseph Copland, the President of the Atlantic Federation. "That is the problem," Djibril began. "Those abominations in the sky have allies on Earth, and we have been too busy fighting distracting revolutions and petty wars with each other. We have lost sight of our true foe. They have pulled the blinds over our eyes, and have us at each other's throats now, exactly as they want us."

Copland arched an eyebrow inquisitively. "I highly doubt local separatist movements around the globe are all the handiwork of the PLANTs, Djibril," he said skeptically. "The Muslim League is the only separatist movement so far to ally itself with the PLANTs."

"So far," Djibril pointed out. "And how many more terrestrial soldiers would you like them to have? The United States of South America have been rather friendly with those monsters."

Copland narrowed his eyes; Djibril had struck a nerve.

"No, Mr. President," Djibril continued, "the time to act has come. The world is disunited. Unite it and with our combined level of technology, the PLANTs will fall."

"The Zamzazar and the Gelzuge can't bring down a nation like PLANT," Copland protested. "And it's not as if they've been sitting up there doing nothing for the past two years either. We never did formally end the war two years ago."

Djibril smirked in delight. "No," he began, slowly striding over to his chair. "PLANT hasn't been sitting there doing nothing." He pressed a button on the armrest of his chair. "They've been very busy."

Copland gasped quietly. "These are—"

"New mobile suit models. A new battleship. And..." Djibril narrowed his eyes at Copland. "Gundams." He clenched a fist before him dramatically. "Yes, Mr. President, Gundams, the same machines that ran around the battlefield two years ago, slaughtering their enemies and destroying machines. The crested, two-eyed monsters that have captivated the public. How can we sleep at night knowing those monsters in the sky have such powerful weapons? We cannot allow them to continue possessing such things. We must take them."

"Djibril," Copland objected, "these Coordinators are still powerful, regardless of what you say of them. We would need a whole fleet to just get close to the PLANT these units are on, let alone capture them. And that will surely lead to—"

"War?" Djibril finished, smirking. "Let it lead to war. Then we will destroy those damned Coordinators once and for all." He looked away again. "At any rate, however, we won't need a whole fleet. Send that new battleship, the _Girty Lue_, and the Phantom Pain. We'll send him with some Special Forces troops and three of our Extended."

Copland's eyes widened in disbelief. "Djibril, are you mad?!" he exclaimed. "What if they get captured or killed?! Do you have any idea what would happen?! The Coordinators would have a field day with that!"

"They won't be captured or killed," Djibril assured him.

Copland glared. "How can you be so sure?" he asked skeptically. "Do you have an informant there or what?"

Djibril cast Copland a sidelong glance. "You could say that," he said after a moment's pause. Looking away, he went on. "At any rate, the Phantom Pain can get this job done. With an artist's touch, even." He looked back at Copland. "You look doubtful."

"This is extremely risky, Djibril," Copland warned. "I hope you realize that."

"Never mind the risks," Djibril said dismissively. "Soon, you'll see. The Coordinators will finally meet their destiny."

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**October 2nd, CE 73 - PLANT Armory 1, Lagrange Point 4**

"Sting, did you get us lost again?" Auel Neider complained. "I swear I've seen that store twice already."

"It's not my fault the fucking map is written in Spanish," Sting Oakley snapped back. "I didn't even know they _speak_ Spanish up here."

Sting and Auel stood peering at a map— incidentally, written in Spanish— on a sidewalk on the PLANT called Armory 1. Sting knew he was on the half of Armory 1 reserved for off-duty troops and civilians. What he wanted to do, however, was sneak into the other half, the military-only half. Unfortunately, he couldn't read Spanish, and Auel was not being much help either.

"Okay, I think I figured this out," Sting said after a frustrated inspection of the map and his surroundings. "Get Stella and let's—"

They both paused, looking behind them at their third companion. Stella Loussier was staring blankly at her reflection in a clothing store window, and her eyes fell down towards a dress on display. She paused a moment, then did a graceful pirouette, and giggled at herself.

"What the hell is she doing?" Auel asked.

"Damned if I know," Sting said with a shrug. "Come on." He started down the street.

"But what about Stella?" Auel protested. Sting shrugged again.

"She'll catch up," he said dismissively. "Now come on. I'm getting sick of wandering around this place."

Auel glanced back at Stella, shrugged, and jogged after Sting. Left behind, Stella continued to dance by herself, lost in a paradise only she could see or understand. She giggled contentedly, as nothing else mattered, and she was lost in her own personal euphoria—

And then she ran into someone.

Stumbling to the side, she blinked at the sight of a young boy about her age, with tousled black hair and striking red eyes. He blinked in surprise right back at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Stella paused, decided he was bad, and ran away.

Back on the street, Shinn Asuka blinked again, watching her go.

"Idiot," cut in a familiar voice. Yolant Kent strode into view with an amused smirk. "You should've gotten her phone number."

Shinn looked back at him. "Not after she was prancing around in the street like that," he said, looking back with an arched eyebrow at the retreating girl.

"Excuses, excuses," Yolant chuckled, turning and striding off down the street. "Anything's possible if you can get anything out of Luna."

"Hey!" Shinn exclaimed. "Dammit, I was not going after Luna! That was _totally_ not what it looked like! Yolant, get back here!" Grumbling in annoyance, he took off down the street.

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The door opened with a hiss, throwing the room's occupants into the light. Sting and Auel entered cautiously, trailed by Stella.

Sitting in front of them was a woman in a red ZAFT uniform, wearing the insignia of FAITH on her lapel, with long, curled brown hair, three locks of which had been dyed red, for whatever reason—Sting found it rather odd, but then again, he also found military officers who liked to wear masks odd too. She looked at them both with unblinking red eyes. Standing above her was a man in a white ZAFT uniform, also with the FAITH insignia, sporting long blond hair and a distinctive facemask.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to come," Rau Le Creuset said with a chuckle, approaching them slowly.

"We got lost," Sting said flatly. "We're going to be late at this rate. Let's get going."

"Pushy, pushy," spoke up the woman. Rau glanced at her.

"Don't worry about it, Valentine," he said calmly. "Go get him."

Valentine Sunogachi paused a moment, then stood up and slowly disappeared into an adjacent room. Rau looked back at a questioning Sting and Auel.

"You can still sneak us into Armory 1, right?" Sting queried. "We need to infiltrate the hangar and find the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss."

"Of course," Rau said, holding up a keycard. "Don't worry, Sting. Your mission will be successful."

He glanced back at the door, as Valentine emerged. Another ZAFT Red Shirt with a FAITH badge followed her, but behind unruly brown hair were unnaturally dull and lifeless eyes.

"He will be sneaking you into the facility," Rau said, handing the keycard off to the third soldier. "Sting, Auel, and Stella, meet Kira Yamato."

Kira Yamato's lifeless eyes stared at them all. "Come with me," he spoke in a dull, dead monotone. He slowly strode out of the room. Sting, Auel, and Stella moved to follow, but Rau stopped them.

"When you return to your ship," Rau said, with a devious smirk, "be sure to tell Neo that Rau Le Creuset sends his regards."

He turned and left the room.

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"Man," sighed Vino Dupre as he guided the jeep across the grounds of Armory 1. "Everything's such a mess." He swerved around a parked GINN and glanced at his passenger. "You're lucky you're not a Green Shirt, or else you'd have to be doing this crap too."

Lunamaria Hawke glanced back at him. "I have other things to do instead," she answered. "The Chairman came here to see us off. Of course he'll want to see the ZAFT Reds of the _Minerva_ before we go." She rolled her eyes. "One more headache to send us off with, I guess."

"But at least we'll finally be launching! I can't believe it," Vino said excitedly. "All that training and putting up with those jackass instructors has finally paid off! I'm finally going on a tour of duty!"

Luna arched an eyebrow at him. "I thought you were afraid to go on your tour."

Vino blinked, a hint of a blush rising to his cheeks. "Well, um, we're going to be deployed to orbit the moon, so, uh—"

"Yeah," Luna laughed. "The moon. Nothing scary." She smirked and looked over her shoulder. "I mean, sure, there's those pirates in GuAIZ and all that come from the moon, but hey, not scary, right?"

"What pirates?" Vino asked apprehensively.

"What pirates?" Luna echoed. "They're the Blood Hawk Gang! They have GuAIZ with pirated Natural OS and they come and kill people, and cut their throats and let them bleed into space!"

Vino gasped in horror. "Y-You mean they come from the moon?!"

"Uh-huh!" Luna said with a devious grin and an excited nod. "And I bet we're gonna have to fight 'em! They're Naturals, they _hate_ us Coordinators!"

Vino pulled to a stop at a checkpoint outside a large door, and he and Luna climbed out of the jeep. "You have to be kidding!" he stammered.

"Oh no," Luna laughed, "the Blood Hawks kill anyone they see!"

"B-but are they really still there?!" Vino stuttered.

"No," cut in a third voice. Rey Za Burrel stepped up beside Luna, and Luna scowled at him. "The Blood Hawks were wiped out five months ago by the Bordeaux team." He glanced at Luna. "They're not a threat anymore."

"Ha!" Vino laughed, pointing at Luna. "See?"

"You suck, Rey," Luna grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting. Rey looked back at Vino.

"You're wanted in the _Minerva_'s hangar," he said simply. Vino blinked and nodded, and scampered off towards the large door. Rey looked back at Luna. "Come with me. We're supposed to get our ZAKUs on the _Minerva_ before the Chairman's inspection."

Luna sighed in annoyance. "Why did you ruin my joke?" she complained, trailing after him. "I really had him going there, and you know how funny Vino is when he's scared."

Rey only sighed. "If you get Vino to believe something, he never shuts up about it," he explained at last. "I really don't want to hear about the Blood Hawk Gang and how scared he is of them for six months. Now go get your ZAKU."

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"You're late."

Shinn paused in front of his locker and looked over at the speaker. Shiho Hahnenfuss was never a figure he wanted to see, but now, leaning expectantly against her own locker not far away, she was particularly poor in her timing.

He pulled his uniform shirt on wordlessly.

"The Chairman's inspection is in three hours," Shiho added icily. "Be ready by then." She paused. "And button your collar up this time."

Shinn glared after her as she left and buttoned up his collar with a scowl. He opened the duffel bag by his side and stuffed his clothes in, digging through his locker and cleaning it out. He still had to put his belongings on the _Minerva_ before the Chairman arrived, and he hoped to avoid Shiho as he did it.

With a sigh, he zipped up his duffel bag, shut his locker, and headed to the locker room door. Peering around, he saw no sign of Shiho, and began his trek towards the _Minerva_.

As he sauntered across the grounds of Armory 1, he could see a platoon of ground troops lined up, standing stiffly at attention beside a VTOL craft. Between the soldiers was the familiar purple uniform of a ZAFT high commander, this one being in charge of Armory 1. The VTOL craft's hatch popped open, and a figure in white began to climb down the steps.

Chairman Gilbert Dullindal certainly cut a striking figure, Shinn had to admit. Long black hair, piercing golden eyes, and a smooth voice made him the most charismatic of PLANT's politicians, though Shinn did have to question his attire. That coat was one of the most bizarre pieces of clothing he had ever seen.

Rey was not far from the Chairman, and Lunamaria was struggling to catch up with him. Rey promptly saluted stiffly, and Dullindal glanced at him with a surreptitious smile as he went on his way, listening with probably half an ear as the Purple Shirt officer blathered on about something.

Rey turned and headed off, just as Luna caught up to him, huffing and puffing and out of breath. Shinn watched the Chairman go, and then looked over at Rey.

"Huh..." he muttered. "Whatever."

He shouldered his duffel bag and headed off. After all, he still had to go put this thing away.

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Sting, Auel, and Stella crouched with Kira and a duffel bag full of guns behind a stack of crates. Lying before them in the cavernous hangar were the inactive forms of the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss Gundams. Guards and mechanics were clustered around the hangar grounds.

"This isn't too bad," Sting whispered. He nodded to Kira, who opened the bag, and the trio began pulling out weapons. Stella laid hands on a long knife, drew the blade, and narrowed her eyes at it.

"Get this done quickly," Kira instructed. "No drawn-out gunfights. Get into the Gundams and get out of here." Sting nodded and looked over at Auel and Stella.

"Alright," he whispered with a nod. "Let's do it."

Stella and Auel nodded, and the trio burst out of hiding with a machinegun volley from Sting. The mechanics and guards crumpled under the shots, as Auel leapt into the air, spraying machinegun fire on several more ZAFT troops from his vantage point above them. Stella did a somersault in midair and landed amidst several ZAFT troops, cutting them down with bullets and her knife.

"Auel, behind you!" Sting shouted, as he mowed down a pair of oncoming guards. Auel pointed one of his guns over his shoulder and took down two guards raising their guns behind him. Sting turned and hurled a grenade at a pair of remaining guards, and the two soldiers were lost in the explosion. The hangar fell silent as the smoke wafted out. The trio dropped their weapons before them.

"Sting," Auel began. Sting nodded back.

"Alright, let's go!"

The three pilots leapt up into the cockpits of the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss Gundams, and started the machines up. Inside the Chaos, Sting smirked in satisfaction. The Chaos was running just as they had said it would.

"How is it?" he asked into the speaker.

"It's fine," Stella murmured.

"Good as they said it would be," Auel answered. Sting smirked again.

"Good," he said. "Deactivate the transponders and reconfigure the communication codes. We'll all get going together."

The Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss stood from their transport trucks, cables and braces smashing and ripping apart, and their Phase Shift armor flashed to life. The three Gundams stomped towards the hangar doors.

Down below, a dying mechanic struggled up to the console and smacked the alarm button.

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The wailing alarm tore through the air of Armory 1, and at his VTOL craft's landing pad, Gilbert Dullindal turned, looking out at the base grounds.

"What is that?" he murmured. Soldiers rushed this way and that, throwing questions at one another.

One of the hangars exploded, and a handful of beam shots slashed through. More beam shots took out a pair of parked mobile suits adjacent to the hangar. Gilbert saw no more as a squad of soldiers dove over him to cover him, and a pall of smoke blasted over their heads.

He looked up as the smoke cleared, and saw the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss Gundams standing there. The Gaia and Abyss leapt off to the sides as the Chaos strode forward, and before the mobile suits could begin launching, the Gundams were already devastating them.

"What the hell is this?!" the commander shouted. "Shit! All forces, retaliate at once! The target's at the sixth hangar! _Move!_"

"Chairman, we need to get you to a shelter," one of the soldiers said urgently, as Gilbert got back to his feet. Gilbert shot a withering glare at him.

"How do you expect me to do that?!" he snapped. "I don't even know the situation!"

The soldier was at a loss, before a black-shirted officer spoke up. "At least move to the _Minerva_, sir. You'll be safer there than here."

Gilbert looked back at the Chaos as it blew away a pair of GINN Ceremonial Types.

Bitter as it was to watch, it was going perfectly.

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The ground quaked as a DINN came plowing down into it, and its killer went stalking forward, beam rifle in hand. The Gaia Gundam was struck by a full clip from a GINN's machinegun, and retaliated with a beam blast to spear its torso. A GuAIZ R rose to avenge its fallen comrade, but with only its railguns, stood no chance against the Gaia's next beam shot.

Stella looked around. These things weren't scary. They were easy to get rid of. Nothing scary could get her now, because she had the Gaia.

There was a loud crash, and Stella looked over to her left, wondering what it was. A building was exploding, and silhouetted against the flames was Auel's new Abyss Gundam. But even though the silhouette was big and only its eyes were glowing, while it stood over the burnt-out corpse of a GINN, Stella wasn't scared. Auel was mean sometimes, but he wasn't scary.

The Gaia rocked, and Stella blinked in surprise as her machine stumbled backwards. She looked around in confusion, finding nothing that could have knocked the Gaia around, and then the ground exploded beneath her and the Gaia was sent hurtling back.

Before her, a big red and white Gundam landed with a crash, with two huge blue swords in its hands. Stella blinked again, watching it combine the two swords and spin them majestically over its head, igniting the beam blades.

Inside the Sword Impulse Gundam, Shinn Asuka narrowed his eyes at the Gaia, standing quizzically before him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he growled, tightening his fists around the controls. "You want to start another war?!" The Impulse charged, swinging its swords back. "_Do you?!_"

Stella drew the Gaia's beam saber and charged with a scream, and the two machines came together with a crash. Shinn snarled against his foe, pushing harder, until the Gaia leapt away and fired its two beam cannons. Shinn took the shots to his shield and glanced to the Gaia's left—there was a guard tower there, though the guard's cabin had been hit by a beam shot, leaving a large, heavy-looking chunk of twisted, fused metal; and the Gaia was in the perfect position.

As the Gaia opened fire again, Shinn deflected the shots with the Impulse's shield, detaching the swords and hurling one of them to the Gaia's left. It stepped to the side, but the sword went slicing through the tower, and with a loud shriek of protesting metal, the tower came toppling down. The Gaia raised its shield in vain, slashing upwards with its beam saber as the metal girders slammed down around it.

Shinn narrowed his eyes at his immobilized foe and charged, brandishing his remaining anti-ship sword, but as he closed in for the kill, the Gaia freed itself and leapt up into the air, dodging Shinn's killing stab.

"Shinn!" a voice shouted. Shinn glanced at the screen, finding the _Minerva_'s ever-insistent XO, Arthur Trine, glowering at him. "Your orders are to capture them! Those are our—"

"I know!" Shinn shot back. He didn't need Arthur's complaints, especially in the middle of combat. The Impulse leapt into the air, pulling back its sword as it chased the Gaia. "But I don't think I can capture them without inflicting damage!" he added. The Impulse swung its sword at the Gaia, trying to slice off its right arm, but the nimble black mobile suit jetted back towards the ground, and Shinn grunted in frustration, cutting the thrusters to chase it.

"Be careful!" Arthur protested. "You're going to—"

"Leave him alone, Arthur!" the voice of the _Minerva_'s captain, Talia Gladys, cut him off. "Stop distracting him! You're going to get him killed!"

Shinn smirked as the Impulse landed. At least Talia knew not to bother mobile suit pilots in combat anymore than necessary.

"Shinn Asuka!" another voice shouted. Shinn took cover behind the Impulse's shield as the Gaia boosted back, firing its beam cannons again. He glanced behind himself, finding a pair of GuAIZ Rs and a GINN jogging towards him. The face of a grizzled ZAFT officer in a Green Shirt's flight suit appeared on the monitor. "We'll go around and hit the Gaia from behind! Distract it!"

Shinn nodded and charged again, pulling his sword back again. The Gaia turned and charged right back, and the two mobile suits slammed together again.

Another storm of beam shots slashed through the air, and the two GuAIZ Rs and the GINN were blasted to pieces. Shinn's eyes widened as the Abyss landed amidst their smoldering remains, and tried to pull back, but the Gaia was there to insistently hold their position. The Abyss drew back its beam lance, and inside the cockpit, Auel Neider laughed victoriously—

And another beam shot ripped up the ground in front him, throwing the Abyss back. With a roar of engines, a flash of crimson slammed into the Abyss, sending it grinding against the ground and onto its back.

Shinn's eyes widened, as the Savior Gundam raised its beam rifle at the fallen Abyss. The Abyss barely managed to block the shot with its shoulder shells, and responded with a volley of its own.

"Shinn!" the pilot's voice shouted, as the Savior took cover behind its shield. "You're forgetting the Chaos and Abyss!" The Abyss took off into the air, and the Savior went after it.

Shinn grunted an obscenity. Shiho was always getting in his way.

The Gaia surged forward, its pilot screaming, and Shinn tensed, waiting for the blow. At the last second he leapt up, and the Impulse kicked the Gaia across the face, sending it staggering back. Landing with a crash, Shinn raised his sword and charged, but the Gaia recovered soon enough to deflect the sword blow with its shield.

As the Gaia leapt into the air and the Impulse followed, Shinn cast a cautious glance over the scene. Armory 1 was in turmoil, as the ZAFT forces were trying to subdue the three stolen Gundams. Up ahead, a pair of DINNs came shrieking in, releasing a swarm of missiles, but before they could get out of the way, the Gaia shot off their wings and sent them plummeting to the ground. Shinn clenched his teeth angrily and kicked the booster, storming after the fleeing Gaia.

"I'm not letting you get away!" he shouted, bringing his sword down on the Gaia. The black mobile suit went spiraling back towards the ground, and with a snarl, Shinn raised his sword and followed.

The Savior, in mobile armor mode, shot through Shinn Asuka's field of vision.

"Shinn!" Shiho's annoyed voice shouted. "What are you doing?! After them!"

Shinn scowled and looked back at the Gaia as it charged, beam saber in hand.

"I have my hands full already!" he shouted back, as the Sword Impulse rattled under a body slam from the Gaia. The Gaia pushed him backwards again, but before it could swing its saber, Shinn leapt into the air over its head, and the Gaia furiously turned and followed.

Up in the sky, Shiho's Savior transformed back into mobile suit mode and fired at the Chaos Gundam with a beam rifle barrage. The Chaos responded with a shower of missiles from its weapon pods, and the Savior cut them down with a CIWS burst. The Chaos came storming through the smoke, beam saber extended, and the Savior swung its shield up to take the saber swing.

Shinn grunted as the Gaia showered the Impulse with CIWS fire. "You just don't know when to quit!" he growled, charging back with a forceful sword swing. The Gaia went reeling back towards the ground, and Shinn raised his sword to pursue, but a flash of beam shots went sizzling by. To his right, the Abyss was roaring in, beam cannons blazing. The Sword Impulse dove up into the air, dodging the Abyss's lance stab, and Shinn growled a curse, hurling a beam boomerang down at the Abyss. The blue machine deflected the weapon, and Shinn caught it on the rebound, dodging the Abyss's follow-up beam shots.

"Shinn!" Shiho yelled. "What the hell are you doing down there?!"

Shinn glared back up at the Savior as it dueled with the Chaos.

"Hang on!" he snapped back. The Gaia charged again, and Shinn ducked beneath the Gaia's saber swing and stabbed back with his sword. The Gaia barely twisted out of the way, and the Abyss charged in, its chest cannon preparing to fire. Shinn narrowed his eyes and leapt into the air as Shiho's Savior reeled under the Chaos.

The Sword Impulse rocketed in with a sword slash, sending the Chaos staggering back, and the Abyss dropped in as well, twirling its beam lance over its head. Shinn growled at the two Gundams as they backed away together, and then grunted in surprise as beam shots from the Gaia went flashing around him. He dove away, and the Gaia followed persistently, slamming its beam saber against the Impulse's shield.

"Dammit!" he growled. "Don't you just _GIVE UP?!_"

The Chaos and the Abyss were pulling back, just as Lunamaria and Rey's red ZAKU Warrior and white ZAKU Phantom came streaking in, beam rifles blazing. Inside the Abyss, Auel growled an obscenity.

"Sting, this is endless!" he complained. Sting nodded in agreement, as the Chaos dodged beam shots from the ZAKUs.

"We'll pull out," he said conclusively. "Stella, can you pull away from him?!"

The Gaia came back head-on, peppering the Impulse's Phase Shift armor with CIWS fire. Stella narrowed her eyes at the Impulse.

"I will tear you apart!" she shrieked, as the Gaia boosted.

"Stella!" Sting shouted. "Calm down, dammit!"

The Gaia and Impulse came together with a crash, and darted apart just as quickly. Shinn grunted in surprise as the Gaia turned around for another attack.

"Stella, pull away now!" Sting shouted, as the Chaos came roaring in.

Inside the Abyss, Auel snorted in disgust. "Well then, you can go ahead and _die_ here!"

And suddenly, the Gaia stopped. Stella's eyes widened in horror.

"I'll tell Neo your last words!" Auel added, sporting a pugnacious grin on his face. "All she said was 'goodbye!'"

"Auel!" Sting shouted, glaring at the Abyss. Stella looked down at her hands in terror, tears forming in her eyes.

"There wasn't much choice," Auel said half-heartedly.

"Shut up, you fool!" Sting shot back.

Shinn blinked in surprise, before fighting instinct took over. He hurled both beam boomerangs at the immobile Gaia, but the Chaos dropped in to shoot both boomerangs down and return fire. Shinn cursed under his breath and boosted up into the air, drawing his sword again.

Sting and Auel both blinked as Stella let out a blood-curdling shriek. The Gaia returned to life and took off into the air, brandishing its beam rifle, and the Chaos followed as the Abyss covered their escape with its shoulder shields' cannons.

Shinn watched them go helplessly for a second. He had heard a girl screaming in terror...hadn't he?

"They're getting away!" Luna exclaimed. Rey growled as his ZAKU Phantom boosted after them, and Shiho's Savior was not long in following. Shinn shook his head and regained his senses.

"I'll stop them!" he snarled, gunning the booster and taking off with Luna's ZAKU in tow.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, outside PLANT Armory 1**

"They're late."

Colonel Neo Roanoke of the Atlantic Federation 81st Autonomous Mobile Corps— the dreaded Phantom Pain— duly noted the opinion of his ship's captain, Commander Ian Lee, in the back of his mind. The _Girty Lue_ currently waited behind the protection of its Mirage Colloid field, as its six black-painted, radar-absorbent Dark Dagger Ls, all sporting bazookas, silently and stealthily made their way towards Armory 1's port. Already, through the _Girty Lue_'s telescopic equipment, Neo could see the lime-green hull of a _Laurasia_-class frigate. Two _Nazca_-class destroyers were cruising around the PLANT's conical hull; a third was coming out of the opposite side of the port. The ZAFT forces were stepping up security outside the PLANT—if Sting, Stella, and Auel didn't get out soon, they'd have to punch through quite a few ZAFT mobile suits, and the _Girty Lue_ couldn't stay here forever either.

Lee glanced over at Neo. The colonel's face was unreadable behind his black helmet. At last, Neo allowed himself a smirk.

"I'll go out in the Exus and buy us some time," he said calmly. "You take care of those ships."

Lee looked back out dubiously at the two _Nazca_. "You'll have a hard time getting through them in your mobile armor," he warned. "The Daggers only got by because of the camouflage and radar absorption. The Exus has neither."

Neo stood, still smirking. "Come on, Lee," he said chidingly. "Have a little faith in me."

Lee studied the scene before him. "It's going to take more than a little," he said. Neo chuckled as he turned towards the bridge door.

"I'll leave the ship to you," he said. "Take care of those ships. Keep the Mirage Colloid up and keep moving. Once Sting and the others come out, drop the Colloid. I'll signal the Daggers to retreat myself."

"Yes sir."

The bridge door closed with a hiss.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**PLANT Armory 1, Lagrange Point 4**

Stella's sobs reverberated throughout the Chaos's cockpit, and Sting sighed in frustration.

"Auel," he grumbled, shooting a glare at the Abyss, "next time I tell you not to use Stella's block word on her—"

"Oh, shut up," Auel shot back. Machinegun fire buzzed the Abyss as it sailed through the air, and Auel fired back with the Abyss's shoulder cannons, blasting a DINN and a CGUE out of the sky. "I didn't hear you come with any better ideas."

Beam shots flashed through the air, and Sting glanced over his shoulder. "Auel, go blow a hole in this fucking thing and get us out of here. I'll cover you."

He cut the Chaos's thrusters and stared at the oncoming ZAFT mobile suits. The white and red ZAKUs and the two red Gundams were leading a pack of ZAFT mobile suits right towards him. He narrowed his eyes and concentrated, and the Chaos's gunbarrels lifted off and activated.

_This isn't so hard,_ Sting thought amusedly. _Well, time to even the odds a little!_

With a flash of exhaust, the gunbarrels shot forward, and the Chaos itself was quick to follow.

Inside the Sword Impulse, Shinn yelped in surprise as a missile plowed into the GuAIZ next to him, sending it staggering out of the sky. He quickly fired up the Impulse's CIWS to cut down three more missiles before they hit his own machine, and drew the Impulse's remaining anti-ship sword.

"Shit," Shiho growled, as the Savior fired its own CIWS salvo, shooting down another missile before it struck an unsuspecting GINN. "He's figured out how to use the gunbarrels...Shinn, Luna, Rey, be careful!"

"I can't believe it!" Luna exclaimed, as one of the Chaos's gunbarrels fired at her. She deflected the shot off her shield and tried to fire back, but machinegun fire from the Chaos itself drove her back. "Impossible! How could he figure out a new mobile suit that quickly?!"

Rey grunted in frustration, and his white ZAKU Phantom drew one of its beam tomahawks, storming forward with a roar of its engines. The tomahawk came down against the Chaos's shield, and inside the stolen Gundam, Sting growled back, surprised.

"You've got balls, pal!" he laughed. The Chaos's eyes flashed, and a quick CIWS burst forced the white mobile suit back far enough for Sting to open fire with the Chaos's rifle.

The entire PLANT rattled with a low, rumbling explosion, and Sting cursed. The _Girty Lue_ was attacking the PLANT's port—that was their signal to leave.

The gunbarrels flashed around the ZAFT mobile suits, and a CGUE nearby was speared on a beam shot. Shinn cursed under his breath, pulled back his sword, and charged back in with a yell. The Chaos dove back, switching to its beam saber, and the two mobile suits clashed in midair as the gunbarrels took down another GuAIZ R.

"Sting!" Auel shouted. Sting glanced over his shoulder in aggravation. "You'd better hurry up! Those ZAFT guys are coming over here now, and Stella's no help!"

"That's _your_ fucking fault!" Sting snapped. The Chaos charged back against the Impulse, and the two mobile suits clashed again. "Shit, get over here and we'll take care of these guys, and then work on that wall!"

A flurry of beam shots slashed through the approaching ZAFT mobile suits, and Shinn cursed again as the Abyss returned with a blast from its chest cannon. Both stolen Gundams began to pull back.

"Surround them!" Shiho shouted, as the Savior reverted to its mobile armor mode and tried to rocket ahead of the retreating Chaos. Shinn gunned the Impulse's booster and raised the sword—

And in a flash, the Chaos transformed to its own mobile armor mode, and its beam claws snapped the Impulse's sword in half. Shinn's eyes widened in surprise, before he furiously tossed the remaining shards of the sword away.

"_Minerva_, Force Silhouette!" he called. The Chaos came back down on him, spewing missiles, and Shinn drew the Impulse's beam rifle to fire back and force it off.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, PLANT Armory 1**

"Captain Gladys, we cannot afford to allow this battleship to be damaged! Do something about those black mobile suits!" the men shouted.

They'd come from nowhere, and they were really the last things Talia needed. They were dangerous, they were angry, they were destructive, and they were interfering with everything.

Those six black mobile suits that were demolishing the dock were pretty annoying too.

Talia glared up at the entourage of Chairman Dullindal. The whiny, obnoxious politicians apparently thought that telling her about those six mobile suits four times wasn't enough, and were starting on the fifth. Talia was just about to ask them to go deeper into the ship, far away from the bridge, possibly even off the ship entirely, when Chairman Dullindal himself spoke up.

"Gentlemen," he said, calmly and smoothly like always, "I'm sure Captain Gladys figured out the first time you said it that there are six enemy units in the dock. Perhaps you should take refuge deeper inside the ship. The bridge is liable to be dangerous."

Gilbert's tone was not one to be questioned with, and the councilors and officers shuffled away reluctantly. Talia allowed herself a sigh of relief as the politicians disappeared.

"_Minerva_, Force Silhouette!" Shinn Asuka's tinny, garbled voice shouted through the speakers. The operator, Meyrin Hawke, jumped in surprise, and Arthur looked over, startled.

All eyes turned to Talia. She narrowed her eyes at the specks in the sky above her—the Impulse, the Savior, and the _Minerva_'s two ZAKUs were up there, trying to stop the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss.

"I approve," she answered. "Launch it!" She glanced back at Gilbert. "It's no longer classified, is it?"

Gilbert sighed quietly. "No, it's not," he agreed.

Meyrin set to work launching the Force Silhouette, as Talia glanced over at the six black mobile suits. They seemed to be retreating, having wrecked several docked warships and dozens of mobile suits.

They were Daggers, Talia could tell; specifically, they were the Earth Alliance's latest mass-produced unit, the Dagger L. She hated to think that the Earth Alliance might be responsible for this, and struggled to remind herself that the Earth Alliance's Dagger Ls had also fallen into the hands of many mercenaries and space pirates.

With that unsettling thought, she sat back into her chair and waited impatiently as the Force Silhouette took off with a roar.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Impulse quaked as the missiles came down around it, and in the cockpit, Shinn cursed as his visibility was cut down by palls of smoke. The Impulse dove backward, and the smoke cloud erupted outwards as the Chaos followed, beam saber ignited.

A blast of plasma ripped through the air, stopping the Chaos's charge, and the Savior dropped in with its own beam saber.

"Shinn!" Rey shouted, as his ZAKU Phantom came in as well. Up above, Luna's ZAKU Warrior was fighting off the Abyss Gundam, and more ZAFT mobile suits were coming in from the base.

The Force Silhouette rocketed overhead, and Shinn ignited the booster to follow it. The Chaos opened fire with its gunbarrels, aiming of the Silhouette, but Rey and Shiho were there to block the shots and return fire. Shinn discarded the empty Sword Silhouette, and with a hiss, the Impulse's Phase Shift vanished, the dull gray mobile suit spiraling up into the air to meet the new pack. The Abyss opened fire as the Impulse rose through the air, but Luna and Rey's ZAKUs came in to deflect the shots.

All eyes turned towards the Impulse as it became the Force Impulse, reactivated its Phase Shift as a brilliant blue and white, and opened its shield.

"What the fuck did _he_ just do?!" Auel shouted. Sting growled in frustration.

"That's not gonna do you any good!" The Chaos rocketed up towards the newly formed Force Impulse, and inside the Impulse, Shinn clenched his teeth and drew the Impulse's beam saber.

With a scything roundhouse kick, the Impulse sent the Chaos staggering back, and with a roar of its engines, the Impulse went charging away. The Abyss showered it with a volley of beam shots, but the Impulse took the shots to its shield and charged into the Abyss's face, ramming it with its shield. And as the Abyss reeled back, the Impulse charged up towards the Gaia as it blasted helplessly at the PLANT wall.

Inside the Gaia, Stella gasped in horror as the Impulse came raging up towards her, and backed away as Shinn swung his beam saber wildly.

"Goddammit, _DIE ALREADY!_" Shinn screamed, as the Gaia raced away. More blasts came flashing by him, as the Abyss poured its firepower into the wall, and it still refused to budge.

"They're trying to blast the wall open!" Luna exclaimed. The Savior rushed in, in mobile armor mode, beam cannons blazing.

"Dammit!" Shiho yelled, ramming into the Abyss and sending it staggering away. "We have to stop them before they—"

More blasts sizzled through the air, this time from the Chaos, and with a thunderous explosion, they hit home. In a flash of fire and smoke, the PLANT wall was blasted open, and the air began to rush out. The Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss rode the airwave out, as the ZAFT pilots helplessly watched them go.

"Dammit!" Shinn screamed. "You're not getting away that easily!" With a yell, he boosted after the retreating foes.

"Shinn!" Shiho shouted after him. "We don't know about the enemies outside!"

"We are about to find out," Rey said quietly, as his and Luna's ZAKUs boosted after Shinn. Cursing all the way, Shiho went with them.

——————————————————————————————————————————

On the PLANT wall, Neo Roanoke watched amusedly from inside the mobile armor Exus as the wall was blasted open, and the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss Gundams rocketed out. His curiosity was piqued when he saw a fourth Gundam, looking not unlike the Earth Alliance's famous Strike Gundam, come flying out after them with a drawn beam saber.

"Ah well," he said dismissively, "I guess anyone can miscalculate." He smirked as the crosshairs passed over the fourth Gundam. Two ZAKU mobile suits and a fifth Gundam came flying out as well. "Another one. Well, let's see if we can go five for five."

The Exus jetted off its hiding place on the PLANT wall and engaged the booster.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_**

"What are they doing?!" Arthur exclaimed, staring at the screen before him, as the Impulse, Savior, and both ZAKUs exited the PLANT. "We don't know about the enemies outside! What if there's a mothership?! What will they do?!"

"The _Da Vinci_ and the _Montesquieu_ are on patrol nearby, and the _Galileo_ is coming in too," the sensor officer, Burt Heim, reported. "The _Laurasia_-class frigates _Carnegie_ and _Hudson_ were destroyed in port, but the _Nazca_-class destroyer _Locke_ is on its way as well."

Talia bit her lip in thought. If there were raiding parties, there had to be a mothership—but where?

Burt gasped in alarm, and all eyes turned towards him. "Detecting a ship outside Armory 1! The heat signature is similar to the _Archangel_-class!"

"_Archangel_-class?!" Arthur echoed in disbelief. "How did it get this close?!"

"The Mirage Colloid," Gilbert observed dourly, from his seat near Burt's station.

Talia looked back resolutely at the port. The three stolen Gundams had already blown their way out of the PLANT, and the six black Daggers had escaped as well. The action had moved outside...and so, she would have to do the same.

"All hands, go to Condition Red," she announced. "The _Minerva_ will launch."

All eyes turned to her.

"C-Captain," Arthur stuttered.

Gilbert looked grimly at her, and Talia looked back, hoping he wouldn't protest. At last, Gilbert sat back, his body language indicating that he had no objections.

"While the lift is descending, charge up the Tannhäuser and prepare the rest of our weapons," she continued, staring authoritatively at Arthur. "All hands prepare for anti-ship and anti-mobile suit combat!"

Gilbert settled into his chair and watched as the _Minerva_ began to descend.

The time had come.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Near PLANT Armory 1**

Beam shots surrounded the Force Impulse Gundam, and Shinn let out a yelp of surprise, switching back to his mobile suit's beam rifle and twisting out of the way. He boosted upwards as a purple mobile armor blasted by underneath him with a shot from two beam cannons.

Inside the Exus, Neo allowed himself a smirk as he wheeled around for another pass. The gunbarrels flashed around the battlefield, spewing beam shots at everything with the ZAFT insignia—these amateurs would see how gunbarrels were _really _used.

Shinn looked around frantically, trying to find the source of beam shots that came out of nowhere. Rey's ZAKU dove in behind him, shielding him from a blast from behind. "Rey!" he exclaimed.

"What are you doing?" Rey exclaimed. "If you zone out, you'll just be a target!"

Neo paused in surprise as a voice sifted through his mind, and he could almost see the white ZAKU's red-uniformed pilot.

"This enemy is different from the rest!" Rey shouted.

Neo frowned.

_What is that...?_

The Exus roared back into battle, surrounding the combatants with more beam fire. Luna's eyes widened in shock as one of the gunbarrels came blazing towards her, sporting two shimmering beam blades. She quickly gunned the booster, diving out of the way, as Shiho's Savior deflected the gunbarrel with her shield. But before she could fire her follow-up beam shot, the gunbarrel darted away again, and the two red mobile suits were forced back on the defensive.

Neo glanced over his shoulder and smirked as the _Girty Lue_ came up behind him. The Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss were almost in the hangar, and the Dagger Ls were right behind them.

_Now then,_ he told himself, _to attend to these four loose ends_—

And then there were explosions everywhere. Neo blinked in surprise as two of his gunbarrels were wiped out by a storm of missiles, and four thick beam blasts came flashing across the battlefield. Machinegun fire pelted the Exus mercilessly, and Neo looked angrily at the source.

He sighed in disappointment. "Best not be too greedy," he told himself, "or we'll lose everything." He recalling his remaining gunbarrels and rocketing away towards the _Girty Lue_.

Behind him, the _Minerva_ spread its wings.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	2. Phase 02: Hearts of Soldiers

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 02 - Hearts of Soldiers

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 2nd, CE 73 - Near PLANT Armory 1, Lagrange Point 4**

On the bridge of the _Minerva_, Talia narrowed her eyes at the ship before them. It certainly looked like an Earth Alliance warship, giving strength to the gnawing sense of fear growing in her stomach.

"So that's their mothership," Gilbert observed quietly.

"Input its data as Bogey 1," Talia ordered. "Shield the bridge and prepare the Tristans."

The _Minerva_'s bridge sank down into the darkened battle bridge below, with three extra consoles arrayed before them. Arthur drifted to the left-hand console as Gilbert sat back expectantly.

Up ahead, the purple mobile armor slipped into Bogey One's spacious hangar. The enemy battleship began to withdraw, firing its CIWS emplacements as the _Minerva_'s missiles came streaking in.

"Meyrin," Talia began, "call back the mobile suits. Malik, engines at maximum. Prepare for pursuit!"

The _Minerva_'s engines rumbled in acquiescence, and the guns roared to life. "Isolde, target the ship's engines! Disable it!" The _Minerva_'s triple-barreled Isolde cannon rose to life and swiveled accordingly. "_Fire!_"

The shots went streaking out into space, and three puffs of fire rose up around the retreating battleship—but none of them hit.

Aboard the _Girty Lue_, Lee glanced over his shoulder as the bridge door opened and Neo drifted back onto the bridge.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I got carried away."

"The enemy battleship is continuing to pursue us!" one of the bridge crew exclaimed. Neo glanced up at the screen.

"It looks like a fast ship," Lee observed dourly. "It could be trouble."

The _Girty Lue_ quaked as a trio of shells went off around it. Neo grunted as the ship rattled.

"Detach both the propellant tanks and detonate them!" he shouted, as the rattling subsided. "Detach them with the arms if you have to! At the same time, raise our bow by 15 degrees, engines at maximum! Dazzle the bastards!"

Back on the _Minerva_, the enemy battleship began to move away, rising above the _Minerva_'s blasts.

"A piece of Bogey 1 has broken off!" Burt exclaimed. The bridge crew stared in surprise as the retreating ship's two long arms detached and drifted towards the _Minerva_.

Talia's eyes widened in horror. "Hard to port!" she shouted. "Shoot them down!"

The _Minerva_'s two Tristan cannons opened fire, but before they could hit, the two arms and their attached fuel tanks exploded, blinding the _Minerva_ with a dazzling fireball and rattling the ship to its core. In his seat, Gilbert grunted and gripped the armrests as the ship rumbled and shook.

"Release anti-beam depth charges!" Talia ordered. "Stand by for attack! Burt, can you find them?!"

"Searching," Burt answered uneasily. Talia squinted through the fireball, trying in vain to find the battleship with the eye alone. "Bogey 1, distance: 7500 to port and rising!"

"They got away," Arthur murmured. Talia sighed in disappointment and looked back at through the smoke and fire as it faded away.

"Clever," she said quietly. She glanced back at Gilbert.

Talia paused as she studied his face. Gilbert seemed to be almost smiling—but this was hardly something to be smiling about. ZAFT's secret experimental mobile suits had just been stolen by what could very well have been the Earth Alliance, and their mothership was now escaping. What was so amusing about that?

She pushed it to the back of her mind. It would have to wait—right now, retrieving those three prototypes was the top priority.

"Chairman," she said, turning to face him, "this ship will continue the pursuit of Bogey 1. You may not have a chance to disembark anytime soon."

Gilbert smiled back at her with that damnable smile. "Don't worry about me, captain," he said reassuringly. "Our main concern is the retrieval of those three units." His smile became something of a devious smirk. "Besides, what better way to inspect the great battleship _Minerva_ than on its first assignment?"

Talia turned her seat back around to face the bridge window. "Engines at maximum," she said, pointedly ignoring Gilbert's last remark. "All hands are to go to Condition Yellow. We will pursue Bogey 1 at maximum speed." She turned back dutifully towards Gilbert. "The _Minerva_ is a fast ship, but Bogey 1 has gotten a considerable head start on us. Perhaps you should take the opportunity to rest before we enter combat again."

Gilbert arched an eyebrow, but nodded assent anyways and stood as the bridge raised back to its original position. Once the bridge was locked in place, the doors opened, and Gilbert left without a word.

"I can't believe we have the Chairman here with us!" Arthur exclaimed as soon as Gilbert had left. "I never would have imagined we'd have such an honorable assignment!"

Talia cast a sidelong glance at him, but shook her head and stood up. "Arthur, I'll leave the ship to you until we encounter Bogey 1 again," she said. "I'll be in my quarters. Keep the ship running at Condition Yellow and have the mobile suits prepped. Contact me if anything comes up."

"Yes ma'am," Arthur answered with a salute. Talia turned and left the bridge with a sigh.

As if she needed Gilbert around anyways.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, near Debris Belt**

Stella had finally stopped crying. Sting sighed in relief—it was about time.

"Hey doc," he called softly, "gimme some blues."

The technician looked up, arching an eyebrow. "Usually you like rock," he observed. Sting shrugged.

"Calm my nerves and all," he answered, laying back and closing his eyes. "I had a long day."

From his spot leaning against the wall near the door, Neo Roanoke smirked. The maintenance pods were specifically designed to soothe the combat-frayed nerves of the Extended with all sorts of calming stimuli. Their fragile nervous systems could not handle the stress of battle without something to pacify them afterwards, and instead of their commanding officer calming them down personally, the Alliance had chosen this machine to do it for them.

Stella had required extra attention after Auel's block word stunt had left her helplessly sobbing and clutching herself, as if the very air around her was out to kill her. Neo always found her overreactions rather irritating, but he also couldn't bring himself to be annoyed with someone who was always so damn happy to see him. Stella still had tears on her face, but she seemed to be sleeping now, as was Auel, and Sting seemed not too far from peaceful slumber as well. Now that they were calmed down, there was nothing interesting going on, and so Neo quietly excused himself and returned to the bridge.

Lee was waiting when he returned.

"It appears our intelligence was right about those new units," he said gruffly. He gestured to one of the screens. "Look."  
Neo settled into his chair as the data scrolled by. He smirked again and glanced at Lee.

"A ground combat unit, a general-usage DRAGOON prototype, and a new high-performance amphibious design," he read. "And _you_ said this was a waste of time." Lee looked back at him.

"What about that ZAFT battleship?" he asked dubiously. Neo looked out the bridge windows, at the specter of the Debris Belt before them. "Do you think they'll pursue?"

"I don't know," Neo answered, "and so I will proceed on the assumption that they will." Lee nodded in agreement, and sat back.

"How are they?" he asked. Neo settled into his chair and sighed heavily.

"They're all sleeping peacefully," he said, still smirking. "It seems Auel used Stella's block word on her, though. That might become a bit of a nuisance."

Lee frowned indignantly. "Does Headquarters really believe we can use pilots like them, who have to be returned to their cradle every time something happens?"

"They're better than the last group," Neo said with a shrug. "At least they can follow and carry out orders."

"Even so, I still don't like it," Lee muttered. "Their conditioning isn't infallible. They might start betraying us, like the last group."

Neo chuckled again. "You're just bitter it was your ship they bitched up in the process."

Lee sighed dismissively, and Neo crossed his arms expectantly.

"There's nothing we can do about it anyways," he went on. "Everything's under experimentation. The pilots, the mobile suits, this ship...the world." Lee glanced at him inquiringly. "Soon everything will be remade...under our name."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Debris Belt**

Shinn watched from near the vending machine as Lunamaria excitedly told what she liked to call "her first war story." Though it was really just her perspective of the raid on Armory 1, she told it as a harrowing adventure that two of the _Minerva_'s mobile suit pilots, a pair of wide-eyed rookie ZAKU Warrior pilots by the names of Shou and Dale, were eating up as if she was a ZAFT veteran.

Shinn couldn't help but snort in amusement as she got to the part of her story where she actually started fighting, and sipped his coffee as he listened.

"Did you really fight against a mobile armor with _gunbarrels?_" Dale asked excitedly. Luna nodded, and Shinn found himself amused again—Rey and Shiho had been the ones to actually "fight" against it, if their brief skirmish with that purple machine could really be called a fight.

"But you should've seen Shinn!" Luna went on, causing Shinn to blink in surprise, and giving him an uncomfortable feeling of foreboding about the forced socialization Luna was sure to put him through. "It's too bad you were stuck on the _Minerva_, or else you would've seen it too! He was awesome!"

Shou and Dale quickly found him near the vending machine, and Luna eagerly dragged him over despite his protests.

"Come on, Shinn!" Luna said. "Tell us about the battle!"

Shinn blinked again, looking back and forth between the star-struck rookies and the magenta-haired girl who had dragged him into this.

"There's not that much to tell," he tried to begin. "I just tried to stop them and—"

"But you did the midair linkup perfectly!" Luna exclaimed. "After all the times you screwed it up in training—"

"Hey!" Shinn snapped. "It's harder than it looks, dammit!"

"But you did it right in battle!" Shou offered helpfully. "And that's when it counts!"

Shinn still shot a glare at Luna as he settled back into his seat. "Whose idea was it to launch a mobile suit in pieces anyways?" he grumbled indignantly.

"So we're heading after that ship now?" Dale asked thoughtfully. "Are we gonna try to get those three units back?"

"Yeah, that's what I heard from Rey," Luna replied. "But I dunno if the mobile armor will show up again. They're kinda outdated and all, so I dunno what they were doing using it."

"I can't wait until we reach the enemy again," Shou said excitedly. "I'll have some real stories for Dad when I get back home!"

The door opened with a hiss, and all eyes turned as Shiho entered the room. Shou and Dale leapt to their feet, saluting, and Luna and Shinn followed, as Shinn tried not to scowl. Shiho returned their salute, but seemed distracted as she headed over towards the lounge's computer terminal.

"What does she want?" Shinn grunted.

"She's looking up...Yzak Jule," Shou whispered uneasily. "Looks like news reports."

"Hey, I remember him," Luna said suddenly. "He was in the Le Creuset team, right? Wasn't he the Duel guy?"

"Yeah," Dale agreed, "he was, like, the only guy on the Zala Team who actually stayed on ZAFT's side until Jachin Due."

"Why's Commander Hahnenfuss so hung up on him, then?" Shou asked. Luna sat back and shrugged.

"I heard she was his subordinate in the Valentine War," she answered. "But I thought he was a fugitive now or something."

Shinn glanced back at Shiho as Luna, Shou, and Dale went back to their conversation.

At last he stood up and left the room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 3rd, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Debris Belt**

Talia hated that smirk Gilbert always seemed to be wearing. It was like he knew something that everyone else didn't, and he wasn't about to go telling anyone else, but he was waiting for someone to ask him about it, so he could fire off some preconceived answer that would swell his ego a little bit more.

And that was the last thing _anyone _needed.

Naturally, Gilbert had been all too happy to pull rank on everyone—and there wasn't a soul onboard who had the sufficient rank to stop him—and plant himself on the bridge while Talia went over the battle plan with her four ZAFT Red mobile suit pilots and her bridge crew.

"Bogey 1 appears to be entering the Debris Field with the intent to lose us among the wreckage and make its escape," she began authoritatively, half a conscious effort to remind Gilbert that this was _her_ ship and _she_ was in charge. "Changes in the heat signatures of their ship indicate that they are intending to turn around a large asteroid. We will send two mobile suit teams to cut off Bogey 1 from two directions. Rey will command the first team, to follow Bogey 1 and hit it from behind. Shiho will command the second team, to go around the asteroid and hit Bogey 1 from the front. Rey's team will be equipped—"

"Excuse me, captain," Gilbert interrupted.

Talia fought down the urge to hit something. After all, Arthur was the closest thing, and he hadn't done anything wrong yet.

"Yes, Chairman?"

"Might I suggest we have Shinn command the first team?"

The four pilots looked in confusion at him, while Arthur sputtered a protest and Talia frowned, trying to ascertain Gilbert's motive.

"Shiho and Rey are more experienced in mobile suit squad command than Shinn is," Talia answered cautiously, eyeing Gilbert carefully. "The Blast Impulse will be required to hit Bogey 1 from behind, where most of the enemy's armaments will do it little good."

Gilbert narrowed his eyes at Talia, speaking in his usual smooth, persuasive tone of voice, but adding an almost imperceptible edge to his voice that almost quelled Talia's will to resist. "The second team will face a more dangerous position," he countered, slowly and deliberately. "They will face all of the enemy's guns and most, if not all of their mobile suits. It would be wiser to send our two best pilots to face it from the front. Besides," he glanced at Shinn, who almost jumped in surprise, "Shinn Asuka wears a red uniform, does he not? He should be up to the task."

Talia almost scowled back at Gilbert's victorious smirk. With the bridge crew staring expectantly at her, there was no simple way to refuse his "suggestion." However, his suggestion was clearly a foolish one—Shinn, as skilled a pilot as he was, didn't have the cool head required for mobile suit squad command. For all she knew, he'd lead some foolhardy charge that would wind up wiping out half of the _Minerva_'s mobile suit complement. After all, Bogey 1 had the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss, and if they were going to get pushed into a corner, they were sure to use those stolen units—and if the havoc they'd wreaked on Armory 1 had been any indication, their thieves certainly knew what they were doing.

But nobody else was going to argue with the Chairman, it seemed. Talia silently cursed Gilbert and nodded slowly and painfully.

"Very well, then," she said, almost growling and making a conscious effort not to glare at the Chairman. "Shiho and Rey will take three Blaze ZAKU Warriors around the asteroid to hit Bogey 1 from the front. Shinn and Lunamaria will take three Slash ZAKU Warriors to hit it from behind." She cast an icy glare at Gilbert.

Gilbert just smirked back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Debris Belt**

"The plan goes like this," Neo explained, with that damnable smirk on his face. "That ZAFT ship is more than likely coming after us at full speed, plunging foolishly into this enormous mess that is the Debris Belt. Fortunately, we are of the Atlantic Federation Special Forces, and have been trained to handle situations like this, whereas those ZAFT guys are a bunch of blowhard Coordinators who think their superior genetics mean they don't need to train as extensively as us. Don't you agree?"

Lee blinked in surprise. "Well, um, I guess so," he said.

"And being science and formula-driven blowhard Coordinators," Neo went on, "they'll want to come barging into the debris field after us and deploy their mobile suits to finish us off, like they always do, because they have found that plunging headfirst into something and sending mobile suits to do everything else seems to work against isolated and helpless ships and squadrons."

"Is this going anywhere?" Lee asked after a moment.

"Of course it is," Neo answered with mock disgust. "Those ZAFT guys are assuming that we'll pass around the asteroid, try to do a 180 around them and lose them in the debris, and do a full burn towards L1. They're going off the assumption that we're renegades and we're trying to get to a base among all those mercenary-ridden colonies. Their intent is to follow us to the asteroid, launch one mobile suit team after us, and launch another into our path to cut us off."

Lee arched an eyebrow. "And how do you know this?"

At that, Neo's smug smirk became a knowing smile.

"We can't go giving away all the surprises, can we?" he asked rhetorically. Lee looked unsatisfied, but before he could say anything more, Neo resumed speaking. "Fortunately, we are not trying to get to the L1 colonies," he continued. "So what we are going to do is leave our three spoils of war to wait for the first mobile suit team on the asteroid surface, use the rocket anchor to attach the ship to the asteroid and hide on the opposite side, and at the same time launch a decoy to continue in the path they expect us to take. Then I'll take our Daggers to take care of the second mobile suit team."

"And you're sure this will work," Lee finished skeptically. Neo sat back and chuckled.

"You doubt me too much, Lee," he answered with a cryptic smile.

"Well, it is rather odd how you seem to know exactly what that ZAFT ship is going to do," Lee defended himself. "And you don't seem to want to tell me."

"Now now, Lee," Neo said chidingly, "you'll know all my evil secrets eventually. Just be patient."

Lee sighed in defeat. He hated it when Neo got all cryptic.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Debris Belt**

Shinn didn't like it at all. He looked around the cockpit of the Core Splendor and sighed as the Impulse's catapult elevator rose. Luna's Gunner ZAKU Warrior was already being loaded into the starboard catapult, and Shiho's Savior into the port catapult.

The Chairman had gone out of his way to see Shinn put in charge of one of the mobile suit teams in Captain Gladys' plan. But he certainly didn't _feel_ up to the task—even in the Academy, he'd never had much more than a basic course in squad command, and he had never had to do it under actual combat circumstances. But the Chairman had insisted, and so Shinn had no choice but to acquiesce, and try to bring the men suddenly under his command home.

"The operation is commencing," Meyrin's voice reported into his helmet. "Shinn Asuka, you are cleared for launch."

Shinn narrowed his eyes at the space ahead as the hatch opened and the catapult activated.

"Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, launching!"

The Core Splendor took off with a flash. Behind it came the Blast Silhouette and the Impulse's two components, and Shinn quickly linked them up around the Core Splendor to form the complete Blast Impulse Gundam, feeling more at ease about the procedure now that he had done it before, with the armor of his familiar steed around him. Behind him, the _Minerva_ launched Luna's red ZAKU and Shiho's Savior.

Shinn sat back and waited as the mobile suits launched. His mind wandered back to the battle at Armory 1—in the midst of combat, he had seen the Gaia freeze, and it had floated in the sky motionlessly for a moment. He had tried to take it down, battle instincts kicking in, but the Chaos was there to defend the Gaia...and then the Gaia took off, and Shinn could have sworn he had heard a girl screaming.

The whole incident had given him feelings he had thus far been too distracted to worry about, but now, waiting for the mobile suits to launch, he realized that he couldn't identify what he had been feeling. All he knew was that he didn't like it.

"The mobile suits have launched," Meyrin announced, interrupted his thoughts.

"All units, assume formation and move out!" Talia ordered.

A round of acknowledgements from the pilots filled Shinn's ears, and he moved the Blast Impulse into position to move around the asteroid. Luna's Gunner ZAKU Warrior and three green-painted Slash ZAKU Warriors fell into formation behind him, and they took off with a burst of exhaust.

Shiho's face appeared on Shinn's monitor for a moment, and she gave him an unforgiving look. "Don't screw this up," she said coldly, and then her face disappeared.

Shinn glared back at the screen. He furrowed his brow and clenched his fists around the Impulse's controls.

"I'll show you, you bitch," he growled under his breath.

The mobile suits continued onwards around the asteroid, weaving their way through the shattered debris of what seemed to have been a colony.

"Man," Luna sighed. "My asteroid field simulator marks weren't very good."

"Don't get distracted," Shinn said tersely, his eyes flicking around the debris field.

"I know," Luna answered defensively. She smiled. "Don't talk like Rey. You'll throw me off."

Shinn glanced back down at his instruments. "We're 1100 from Bogey 1," he observed quietly. "But they're not attacking or changing course..."

"What are they planning?" Luna murmured. Shinn glared ahead, trying to think.

_Why aren't they changing course...? What are they doing?_

And then there was a blast. Shinn turned, and reflex took over as he deflected a beam shot with the Impulse's shield.

"What the—"

Beams were everywhere, and in moments, one of the ZAKUs had been destroyed. Shinn dove back to dodge the debris.

"Dale!" Luna screamed, her ZAKU moving towards the smoldering remains of Dale's machine. Another burst of beam fire forced her back, and she grunted as the ZAKU shook.

"Commander!" one of the pilots shouted. "We can't see them! Orders?!"

Shinn clenched his teeth. "Spread out and return fire!" he shouted. _From behind us?! How?!_

A moment later, he could see one of the Chaos Gundam's gunbarrels dart by, firing a beam cannon shot that Luna's ZAKU barely dodged. Shinn raised the Impulse's beam rifle and fired, but the gunbarrel darted off again unscathed.

The gunbarrels turned their attention to him, and reflex again took over as Shinn snaked his way out of the net of beam fire. Immediately he had the Gaia Gundam upon him, its beam saber drawn, and he boosted upwards to dodge the attack.

"Commander!" one of the ZAKU pilots cried. "I can't hit them! They're too—"

A wordless scream and a burst of static filled Shinn's ears, and he glanced to his left, finding an explosion, and the Abyss Gundam holding its beam lance victoriously over its head.

"Dammit," Shinn growled. "Pull back! Pull—"

He paused, looking down at the screen as his communication system beeped. His eyes widened at what he saw.

"A decoy?!" Luna exclaimed. "Shinn! Rey and Shiho—"

"I know!" Shinn cut her off. "But we've got our own problems here!" He swung around and fired the Impulse's beam rifle at the Gaia, but a shot from one of the Chaos's gunbarrels pierced the rifle, and Shinn abandoned it before it exploded. Grunting in frustration, he pulled back. "Luna, Shou, pull back! They're too—"

"Commander!" Shou screamed. Shinn snapped his gaze to his right, and his eyes widened in disbelief as he watched the Chaos dive underneath a beam barrage from Shou's ZAKU. An instant later the Chaos fired, drilling a shot through the ZAKU's cockpit, and Shou was gone in a blast of fire.

"Shou!" Luna shouted. Her ZAKU was buffeted by a beam volley from the Abyss, and she dove backwards.

"Three ZAKUs in ninety seconds," Shinn growled, dodging a beam saber swipe from the Gaia. He glared at the mobile suit before him. "You bastards!" He lunged forward, kicking the Gaia in the face, and pushed off it in the same move, deploying the Blast Impulse's two beam cannons. The Gaia recovered and jetted out of the way before he could fire, and Shinn was back to dodging. "Luna! Follow me! We're pulling back!"

The ZAKU and the Impulse took off, diving into a wrecked piece of a colony and racing through a long straight tunnel.

"They were killed," Luna murmured to herself. "I was just talking to them and—"

"Get a hold of yourself!" Shinn snapped. "They told us this would happen! Now we're going to make them pay!"

Luna paused for a moment before she nodded, and Shinn looked ahead at the end of the tunnel.

"We'll brake at the end of the tunnel and split up," Shinn said tensely. "You take the Abyss. I'll take care of the Chaos and Gaia." Luna nodded again. A beam shot struck the wall next to them, and Shinn grunted, glancing back. The Gaia and Chaos were coming up behind them, beam rifles blazing. "Go on ahead!" Shinn instructed. He cut the Impulse's thrusters and flipped it upside-down, firing off the beam cannons and railguns at once. The Chaos and Gaia raised their shields to deflect the blows, and Shinn took off again before they could recover.

Bursting out of the tunnel, Shinn immediately found Luna's ZAKU diving desperately away from a beam cannon volley from the Abyss. One of the shots blasted Luna's beam rifle out of her hands, and she dove behind a piece of wreckage to avoid the second volley. Shinn growled and fired a salvo of missiles at the Abyss, but beam fire from the Chaos and Gaia forced him aside, and he fired back with a beam cannon barrage of his own.

"Dammit," he grunted, raising the Impulse's shield to deflect the incoming shots. "I'm not gonna let you bastards get away with this!"

With a yell, the Impulse charged.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Exus shook from the shockwaves of an explosion as a beam bolt pierced the third ZAKU Warrior's chest and destroyed it, but Neo Roanoke brushed the rumbling off and concentrated his gunbarrel fire on the white ZAKU Phantom. He could sense a distinctive pressure—this kid was no ordinary grunt. But Neo was no ordinary grunt either, and despite being in a mere mobile armor, the Phantom Pain would not be so easy to defeat.

The red Gundam came rushing in, firing its beam rifle, but Neo twisted out of the way and sent one of his gunbarrels storming forward with a barrage of beam cannon shots and ignited beam sabers. The red Gundam raised its shield, but the force of the speeding gunbarrel knocked it backwards, its shield arm forced upwards. Neo grinned victoriously and fired the Exus's beam cannons for a finishing shot—

And then that damned white ZAKU was there to deflect the blasts and fire back. Neo growled in frustration and dodged with a burst of thruster exhaust.

"Dammit," he hissed. "Joe, Miller, all of you, take the Gundam. I'll deal with the ZAKU."

"Yes sir!" the six Dark Dagger pilots answered enthusiastically. The six black mobile suits arced off and opened fire on the beleaguered red Gundam, while the Exus spiraled away towards the ZAKU.

"Time to end this, kid in white," Neo snarled. The gunbarrels opened fire again, and the ZAKU dove out of the way of every shot, but Neo smirked and fired a storm of missiles.

The ZAKU twisted gracefully out of the missiles' path and fired its beam rifle into the asteroid repeatedly, releasing a spray of rocks around the battlefield. Neo grunted as the Exus was hammered by stray rocks, but the mobile armor kept going, and Neo watched furiously as the ZAKU and the Gundam raced away.

"Lee!" Neo shouted. The face of the _Girty Lue_ captain promptly appeared on the monitor. "Follow us, full speed, and we'll sink that damned ZAFT ship for sure!"

"Yes sir," Lee answered. The _Girty Lue_'s engines came to life, and Neo sneered.

"Daggers," he ordered, "form up around me! We're taking those bastards down!"

The Exus recalled its gunbarrels, the Daggers assumed formation, and the mobile weapons took off with a flash.

Neo clenched his teeth, his eyes on the ZAKU.

_You aren't getting away that easily, kid..._

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Blast Impulse rattled, and Shinn swore under his breath as the Gaia came storming in for another saber slash. Swinging back with the Impulse's beam javelin in his right hand, Shinn followed it up with a beam cannon blast from his left, but the Gaia dove out of the way, and the Chaos came diving in with its own beam saber.

"Goddammit!" Shinn shouted, swinging his shield up against the Chaos's saber stroke and boosting away. "Don't you bastards _DIE?!_"

The Gaia rushed in for another attack, but Shinn immediately stopped it with a roundhouse kick to the face. He swung the javelin back for a killing blow, but the Chaos's gunbarrels were there to shower him with missiles and force him back.

"Shinn!" Luna's voice screamed. Her ZAKU came spiraling down, firing its beam cannon back at the pursuing Abyss. "Rey and Shiho are being chased back to the ship!"

Shinn glowered at the Abyss as it responded to Luna's beam cannon shot with a chest cannon shot of its own. Luna's ZAKU dove to the side as the shot slammed into a piece of colony wreckage, and the debris began to explode. Luna's ZAKU lurched as she yelped in surprise, and the Abyss charged in for the kill, beam lance raised. Shinn tried to fire a beam cannon shot to defend her, but the Chaos and Gaia interrupted with their own beam rifle fire. Shinn grunted under the blows and watched wide-eyed as the Abyss went in for the kill. "Luna!"

Luna's ZAKU drew its beam tomahawk and hurled it at the Abyss. The charging Gundam stopped short to deflect the weapon, and Luna responded with a beam cannon shot that the Abyss barely dodged. Shinn dove up above the Chaos and Gaia, firing a beam cannon blast down at them, and charged towards the Gaia, drawing the beam javelin again.

As he charged towards the Gaia, for an instant he was aware of something. There was something there, a flickering sensation in front of him, some kind of _pressure_—

The Impulse shuddered as the Gaia bombarded it with CIWS fire, and Shinn shook his head. The Gaia charged in, beam saber raised, but before it could strike, Shinn rocked it with a powerful kick to the chest, sending it reeling. He raised his javelin to finish the fight, but the Chaos dropped in before him, its own saber raised. Behind it, the Gaia boosted up overhead, angling its beam cannons for a potshot from above.

Shinn narrowed his eyes. "Stop getting in my way!" he shouted.

A moment later, the Impulse smacked aside the Chaos's saber swipe and slammed its feet down onto the Chaos's shoulders. With a yell, Shinn boosted up off of the Chaos's shoulders and rocketed up into the Gaia's face, and the beam javelin and beam saber clashed in a hail of sparks.

More beam shots from the Chaos's gunbarrels forced the two Gundams apart, and the Impulse twisted aside as the Chaos roared back into the fray with a furious beam saber stab. Shinn narrowed his eyes at the Chaos, dodging another beam burst from the gunbarrels.

"Shinn!" Luna shouted. Shinn risked a glance towards Luna's ZAKU, just in time to see it fend off a lance stab from the Abyss with the ZAKU's beam tomahawk. The ZAKU dove behind a piece of wreckage, kicking it into the Abyss's face and blowing it up with a beam cannon shot. "Shinn, the _Minerva_ is under attack! We have to go back!"

"Shit!" Shinn growled, dodging a barrage from the Chaos and Gaia. "We can't just go back with these guys around!" He returned fire with his railguns and beam cannons, and snarled in frustration as the Chaos and Gaia dodged and resumed fire.

"There's gotta be something we can use to distract them!" Luna exclaimed, as the Abyss stormed in again.

Shinn ducked beneath blasts from the Chaos's gunbarrels and spiraled up out of the way of the Gaia's beam cannon shots. He blinked, and found himself near a piece of debris more or less the size of the _Minerva_, and immediately he was struck with an idea.

"Luna!" he shouted, dodging again as the Chaos and Gaia went back on the offensive. "Get over here!"

Luna's ZAKU rolled out of the way of a beam barrage from the Abyss and jetted towards the Impulse as it showered the Chaos and Gaia with missiles.

"Blast that thing!" Shinn shouted, pointing at the wreckage. Before the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss could react, the Impulse and ZAKU opened fire on the wreckage, their shots searing past the three stolen Gundams. With a thunderous roar, the wreckage exploded, and the three stolen Gundams struggled to protect themselves, as the Impulse and ZAKU made good their escape.

"Shiho and Rey lost their ZAKU Warriors too," Luna said quickly. "And they were fighting that mobile armor and six Daggers!"

"Shit, that makes it ten against four," Shinn grunted. He looked up ahead, and could already see the flashes of fire and beam shots surrounding the _Minerva_. "Goddammit...what a mess."

"Shinn," Luna said suddenly, looking over at him worriedly. Shinn arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you, um, are you alright?"

"This isn't the time for that," Shinn said crossly. "You worry about not getting _your_ ass shot off, I'll worry about mine."

Luna stared at him for a moment before she nodded slowly, and Shinn glanced over his shoulder. The three stolen Gundams were probably following, but he couldn't see them.

He narrowed his eyes.

_That pressure...what was it?_

——————————————————————————————————————————

"_Minerva_, give us some cover!"

The Savior dove backwards, avoiding a beam carbine blast from a Dagger L and storming forward with a shot of its own. The Dagger deflected the shot with its shield and boosted out of the way, and another opened fire with its own back-mounted cannons and beam gun, knocking the Savior away. Shiho growled a curse, firing back with the Savior's plasma cannons as she regained control over her mobile suit.

The _Minerva_'s CIWS guns screamed to life, showering the battlefield with bullets, and the Daggers pulled back behind their shields. Rey's ZAKU stormed in to finish off a Dagger, but the mobile armor's gunbarrels opened fire, cutting him off. Shiho raised the Savior's beam rifle, only to see a Dagger drop in and slice it in half with a beam saber.

"Where are Shinn and Luna?" Rey asked, calm as ever even as the mobile armor surrounded his mobile suit with beam shots.

"Meyrin! Shinn and Luna, where are they?!" Shiho snapped as she drew one of the Savior's beam sabers and charged.

"They're on their way!" Meyrin exclaimed nervously, her voice quavering as the _Minerva_ took another hit. "Shinn reports they lost their three ZAKUs!"

"I knew putting him in charge was a bad idea," Shiho growled. One of the Daggers charged in again, and Shiho deflected its beam saber with her own. The Dagger surged forward, throwing her back with a kick to the face, and she barely managed to engage the booster and dodge the follow-up stab. "Dammit! Are these guys Coordinators or what?!"

"They're well-trained," Rey observed stoically. His ZAKU took a quartet of beam shots to its shields and fired back, but the mobile armor's gunbarrels darted out of the way and resumed their attack. "If they are renegades, they certainly are not ordinary ones."

The Savior rocketed up over the heads of a pair of charging Daggers, raising its beam saber to drop down on them, but shells from another pair of Daggers knocked the Savior aside, and Shiho went back on the defensive.

"Goddammit, where the hell is—"

"Out of the way!"

A trio of beam cannon blasts tore across the battlefield, and the Daggers dove aside as the Blast Impulse Gundam and Lunamaria's Gunner ZAKU Warrior burst into the fray.

"We probably brought some company," Luna warned as her ZAKU shook under a shell blast from a Dagger. "The Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss ambushed us back there!"

"We can't keep this up," Rey said, as his ZAKU dove out of the way of a beam saber-sporting gunbarrel. "They outnumber us and our advantage of surprise is gone."

"_Minerva_, we need to pull back!" Shiho shouted. The Savior rattled as beam fire slammed against its shield, and she growled and fired back with the Savior's plasma cannons. The Daggers twisted out of harm's way, and she snarled a curse.

Across the battlefield, inside the Exus, Neo smirked as he saw the ZAFT mobile suits pulling back.

"Daggers, they're pulling back!" he shouted. "Press the attack and we'll finish them off with the ship!"

"It's too late," Lee's voice interrupted. Neo glanced at him in suspicion—something was wrong. He could see it in Lee's lined, hardened expression—something was dreadfully wrong. "We've got a problem. You'll have to return to the ship immediately."

"Can't it wait?!" Neo muttered as the Exus recalled its gunbarrels. "We've got these guys on the ropes!"

"Colonel," Lee said grimly, "Junius 7 is falling onto Earth."

Neo blinked behind his mask, staring at Lee in surprise.

_Already...?_

"Daggers, return to the ship!" he ordered. The Daggers broke off and followed the Exus as it rocketed towards the _Girty Lue_. Neo released the signal flares to order the three stolen Gundams to retreat, and settled back uneasily into the Exus's cockpit seat.

_It's sooner than I expected..._

He looked across the Debris Ring, over at the Earth.

_I suppose the world's going to be remade sooner rather than later, then._

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

_Well, I guess this little war of ours is about to get a lot more interesting._

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	3. Phase 03: The Angry Ghost

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 03 - The Angry Ghost

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 3rd, CE 73 - ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Debris Belt**

The master office of the _Deliverance_ was silent as the news streamed in.

Sitting behind the desk was the white-uniformed Rau Le Creuset. The eyeholes of his distinctive mask flashed, catching the reflected light of the FAITH emblem on his uniform's lapel, as he watched the words scroll by on the screen before him.

It was truly amusing. First the Atlantic Federation—it was the Atlantic Federation, of course—attacked Armory 1 and made off with the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss Gundams. The _Minerva_ and the remaining Savior and Impulse Gundams had attempted to retrieve them, but the mysterious blue warship that was carrying its prizes away had proven too resourceful, and had evaded them and escaped in a heated skirmish in the Debris Belt. And now...this.

Standing behind him were two other FAITH members, clad in the flamboyant red uniform of ZAFT's top academy graduates. One was a young woman, watching the screen with piercing vermilion eyes, twinkling with delight at what she saw. Her hand was clutched by a young man who needed no introduction.

Rau glanced at the young man. "Kira," he said quietly, smirking, "we will need to launch to ensure that this all goes according to plan."

Kira Yamato stiffened for a moment. "Will Athrun be there?" he asked, just as quietly.

Rau regarded the young man in the ZAFT uniform and the FAITH insignia on his chest with interest. The woman glanced at him as well, and began to rub Kira's arm affectionately.

"Would Athrun and his friends let this happen without trying to stop it?" Rau asked rhetorically. Kira looked down in defeat.

"Don't worry," the woman added soothingly, cupping Kira's face in her hands and gazing lovingly into his eyes. "This time you will defeat him."

"Valentine..." Kira murmured, a hint of a blush rising to his cheeks. She pulled away as Rau spoke again.

"ZAFT is sending the _Voltaire_, the _Rousseau_, and," he glanced in amusement at the screen, "the _Minerva_. The Atlantic Federation has dispatched troops from Arzachel Crater, but they have no hope of making it in time."

Kira looked back at the screen, his face darkening for a moment.

"This is the right path, Kira," Valentine said gently. "This is the only way to destroy those who wish to fight and harm us."

Rau nodded soberly. "Perhaps you should go check on the Freedom," he suggested. "This will be a difficult battle."

Kira duly saluted and shuffled out of the office. Valentine glanced down at Rau, who smirked back.

"Will they be able to pull this off?" she asked, gesturing to the screen.

Rau chuckled. "Sato and his men will defend their falling gravestone to the death," he answered. Valentine looked down at the screen again.

"Junius 7," she said with a hint of approval. "Dropped by Coordinators who supported Patrick Zala, the greatest anti-Natural politician to ever rise in the PLANTs." She nodded with a tacit smile. "I do believe the Naturals will never forgive this."

"Of course they won't," Rau replied coolly. "They will not forgive this. They will go to war again." He sat back, still smirking. "And this time, we won't make any mistakes."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, en route to Junius 7**

The noise cut through the usual din of the mobile suit hangar, and the mechanics stopped their work to stare at the scene unfolding before them.

With a resounding smack, Shiho Hahnenfuss delivered a healthy slap across the face to Shinn Asuka. Shinn stumbled to the side before a shocked Lunamaria caught him and helped him steady himself. Off to the side, Rey Za Burrel watched impassively, one hand on his hip and the other hand loosely holding his helmet.

"I knew you couldn't do it," Shiho snarled. "You got three men killed today."

Shinn stared back at her, fury flashing in his eyes. "_Your_ pilots got killed too!" he screamed back. "What the hell are you getting on _my_ case for?!"

"I'm punishing you for your failure," she snapped back. "I'll be punished for mine. But until then, as your commander, I'm punishing you."

Shinn growled, every muscle in his body straining not to leap out and tear Shiho apart. Shiho cast a withering glare at him, which he returned with just as much intensity. At last, Shiho turned away in disgust and stormed off, and Shinn watched her go, rage crackling in his eyes. Vino opened his mouth to speak nearby, but Yolant quickly stopped him.

Rey stepped forward, stoically as ever. He stepped in front of Shinn, taking his attention.

"Shinn," he said. "While I agree with Commander Hahnenfuss that you must suffer consequences for your actions, I also agree that she was out of line." He paused. "Nonetheless, the fault of this battle's outcome does not lie entirely with us. We were against a formidable strategist and excellent pilots." He put an easing hand on Shinn's shoulder, and Shinn felt some, but not all, of his anger disappear. "I will talk to the Commander and straighten this out for you."

Rey left without another word, and Shinn snarled an ugly word under his breath.

"Just let it go," Luna tried to console him, but Shinn wouldn't hear any of it and marched off in the opposite direction. Luna watched him as he stalked out of the hangar and heaved a sigh.

She looked over at Vino. "Well, I suppose your jobs got easier," she said sullenly. Vino looked over at the mobile suits, noticing the six empty spaces in the _Minerva_'s hangar. It wasn't even worth trying to find the ZAKUs' wreckage or the pilots' remains in the Debris Belt—and with the nature of the _Minerva_'s new assignment, they had no time to go hunting for bodies.

"I guess so," Vino agreed with a quiet sigh. The mechanics began to disperse back to their jobs.

"Do you need any help?" Luna asked. Vino glanced at Yolant, who shook his head.

"We should be able to manage," Yolant said. "What machines did come back came back without a whole lot of damage. I guess you're free to go."

"Alright," Luna said with a frown. She turned and strode off in the direction Shinn had gone, and Yolant looked over at Vino as they drifted over towards Luna's ZAKU Warrior.

"I can't believe it," Vino said, shaking his head. "I was just talking to Dale, like, two hours ago."

They landed up against the ZAKU's chest and Yolant sighed and shrugged.

"It's war," he said quietly. "We'd best not think about it for now." With that he took up a tool and ducked into the ZAKU's cockpit.

Vino sighed again and got to work.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation**

The billiards room was silent, and its various occupants settled in chairs around the room with pipes and glasses of wine in hand, as one man rose to speak.

"In truth," began Lord Djibril, looking around dramatically at the senior leaders of Blue Cosmos around the room, "I was shocked to hear the news. How did this happen? Why? Who is responsible for this?"

"No need for such theatrics, Djibril," someone spoke up in annoyance.

"But those theatrics are what is important," Djibril went on. "Once Junius 7 hits the Earth, the people will be asking those very questions. How did this happen? Why did this happen? And," he turned back towards the room's occupants," who is responsible?" He rose to his full height. "The people will be asking those questions, and gentlemen, we will have to be the ones to give them the answer."

"Which is...?" one of them men asked. Djibril suppressed the urge to roll his eyes—were they really _this_ dense?

"Chairman Dullindal is hard at work already, trying to assure the nations of the world that this is not the doing of the PLANTs," another said warningly.

"But who will listen to Dullindal when Junius 7 finally strikes the Earth and thousands of people are blown away?" Djibril countered. "In their grief and despair, they will want answers, they will want someone to blame. And who will they blame? The Junk Guild? The moon? Or..." He trailed off and smiled. "The Coordinators?"

The men listened with interest as Djibril continued.

"The people will want a culprit for this calamity," he went on. "We will blame the Coordinators. They have already filled the sky with such enormous things that threaten to drop down on our heads every day, and they have fought us and bear ill will towards us already. It will be easy to lead the world to hate those abominations once more. And with the world united in their hatred of Coordinators, we will swoop in to lead them, and finally we will destroy those monsters in the sky."

"It sounds like a good plan," one of the men agreed with, as the others murmured their assent. Djibril smirked victoriously, thanking the good fortune of having idiots for associates.

"Then it is agreed," he said, consciously injecting a sardonic edge into his voice to quell any thoughts of argument. "We will take shelter and wait until this catastrophe passes. And we will rise from the dust and lead the world, and destroy the Coordinators once and for all."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, en route to Junius 7**

"He didn't live up to our expectations."

Gilbert Dullindal glanced across the room at Rey. Somewhere along the line Rey had changed back into his red uniform, and stood stiffly in front of Gilbert's closed door.

Gilbert had manipulated the _Minerva_'s battle plan to put Shinn in charge of a mobile suit team, but the entire plan had gone to hell quickly, and when all was said and done six ZAKU Warriors, three of which had been under Shinn's command, had been transformed into six fields of charred wreckage. And the retreating blue warship had managed to slide by without so much as a single scratch to any of its mobile suits.

Of course, it had to work that way, and Gilbert knew it. That was why the Atlantic Federation Special Forces had been allowed to steal the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss in the first place, and that was why Gilbert had essentially informed the commander of that blue ship of the _Minerva_'s plan through a secret frequency. ZAFT couldn't be allowed to get too powerful, after all, or else their plans would never be realized.

Or at least, that's what they all said. To Gilbert, the loss of the Chaos, Gaia, Abyss, and those six ZAKU Warriors were simply necessary sacrifices for a greater good. But Rey was bearing news that he seemed to think threatened their plan.

"I wouldn't worry, Rey," Gilbert said calmly. "Newtype powers are not brought out by the flick of a switch. We will have plenty more opportunities."

"Yes sir," Rey agreed, his voice clipped. Gilbert glanced at him amusedly, before looking back out his window at the stars.

"Our plan is getting started sooner than expected," he continued. "Junius 7 wasn't supposed to be dropped until the anniversary of the Bloody Valentine next year. I guess Sato and his men couldn't wait." He sat back. "Rau...what are you planning?"

Rey stiffened at the mention of Rau's name.

Gilbert looked back at Rey. "At any rate," he went on, "I trust you know what to do?"

"Yes sir."

Gilbert smiled.

"Then it's time to get the gears of destiny working."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 4th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, en route to Junius 7**

When Shinn entered the crew lounge, he found Lunamaria sitting on one of the couches, far from everyone else, seemingly lost in thought. After getting his customary soda out of the vending machine, he popped the top open, took a sip, and looked back over at her.

He knew she had been shaken up by the abrupt ends of the two rookie ZAKU Warrior pilots, Shou and Dale, at the hands of the Chaos Gundam. But they were soldiers. They were disciplined to handle this. Shou and Dale had joined up knowing that they'd be sent out into battle and could die at any time. Shinn was certainly not happy that Bogey 1's mobile suits and that damnable mobile armor had wiped out six comrades, but they had been trained to push aside the deaths of comrades and focus on their jobs. Had that training been so poor as to fall apart when death actually took someone?

For a moment he considered going over to talk to her, but doubts immediately sprung up in his mind to stop him from anything like socialization. Luna was a walking bag of emotion—the last thing Shinn wanted was for her to start sobbing and making a scene. If she was off brooding in the corner, at least she was being quiet about it, and Shinn preferred it that way. A pang of guilt struck him as his conscience fought back, but with practiced discipline Shinn fought it down. He reasoned with himself that Luna would probably rather be alone to think about what had happened.

His conscience, not to be outdone, played its trump card and Shinn was met with a familiar uneasy feeling lurking below everything else, that feeling of guilt in a twisted and omnipresent new form. Sighing resignedly, he got up and slowly made his way towards Luna, begrudgingly giving in to his conscience, while every other part of him recoiled in horror at what he was about to do.

"Luna," he said quietly as he neared her, "are you alright?"

Luna looked up at him in surprise. "Shinn," she murmured. "Um, yes, I'm fine."

Shinn arched an eyebrow, unconvinced. "And that's why you're sulking over here all by yourself?"

Heaving a sigh, Luna looked away again. Of course Shinn, even dense and socially ignorant Shinn, would be able to read _her_.

"I just can't get over it," she said. "I keep telling myself that we're soldiers and we're supposed to live with it, but...I don't know. It's just more than I expected." She looked back at Shinn. "Is the military supposed to dehumanize you so much that you don't care when people die?"

"Yes," Shinn answered bluntly. His conscience returned as he noticed a hurt look in Luna's eyes. "It's for our own good. We joined up willingly and we fight willingly, but not all of us make it back at the end of the day. If we're disciplined enough to not care so much, then it's easier to accept." He shrugged. "Shou and Dale didn't seem to mind flying out there. And _any_ of us could have been the ones to die. You and me just got lucky."

Luna smiled. "_I_ got lucky. The Abyss was kicking my ass. But you were giving the Chaos and Gaia a run for their money."

Shinn shrugged again, as memories of the strange pressure he had felt while fighting the Gaia returned.

Luna sighed a second time. "I suppose I'll just have to get over it," she said resignedly. Her eyes lit up for a moment, and she stood up. "Hey, Shinn, wanna go get lunch?"

Shinn blinked in surprise. "Uh, well—"

"Come on, I know _I'm_ hungry!" She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away before he could protest.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, en route to Junius 7**

"You understand your assignment, then?" the tinny voice of Lord Djibril asked, his face a mask of impatience, even on the blurry, static-broken screen. "This thing must be allowed to drop." In his office chair, Neo Roanoke nodded.

"Of course I do, Lord Djibril," he answered. "Rest assured that my men will be ordered to collect what evidence they can and take out every mobile suit they find. Junius 7 will drop on schedule."

Lord Djibril nodded. "Then I will leave the rest to you." He frowned. "Don't let me down, Phantom Pain."

Djibril's face disappeared, and Neo sat back. The door opened, and Ian Lee stepped inside.

"What are our orders?" he asked, jumping immediately to the point. Neo smirked; Lee was always like that.

"We don't have anything that could break Junius 7 apart," he said calmly, "so we are to go collect evidence as to who and what made this thing move."

Lee stiffened. "Aren't we going to help stop it?"

Neo glanced back at him. "And how do you propose we do that?"

Lee looked away uneasily, and Neo nodded in understanding. "Ah yes. You have a family in the Atlantic Federation, don't you?" Lee nodded grimly, and Neo rose from his chair. "ZAFT has dispatched a team equipped to break this thing up into pieces small enough to burn up in the atmosphere. They should be up to the task."

Lee looked unconvinced, and Neo chose not to press the matter.

"At any rate," he went on, "have the mobile suits and the Exus prepped, and ready all the weapons. We may be entering combat."

"Combat?" Lee echoed. Neo glanced back at him again.

"If you were dropping this thing, would you let ZAFT come in here and blow it apart?" he asked rhetorically. Lee said nothing, and Neo turned towards him. "Either way, the world is about to get a whole lot more hectic. Make sure our three sleeping little angels are ready for action."

Lee hesitantly saluted and excused himself, and Neo looked out his office window at space.

——————————————————————————————————————————

No matter how sarcastic Neo might have been about them, there was no way in hell Lee could see the three overemotional teenagers before him as anything even remotely resembling angels.

Somewhere along the line, Auel had learned an impressive library of colorful words, and was now making violent use of them as the technicians roused him from his slumber. Sting, on the other hand, wasn't bombarding anyone in his line of sight with verbal abuse, but was instead fixing everything in his line of sight with a glare that could have killed lesser men. And Stella was half-catatonic, staring off mindlessly into space as the technicians attempted to get her attention.

Lee buried his face in his palm. He almost missed the biological CPUs; at least they didn't talk outside of their mobile suits.

"You goddamn assclowns better have a motherfucking good reason for goddamn fucking waking us up, you fucking bitch!" Auel screamed, pointing vindictively at Lee. But Lee was a disciplined soldier who fought down the urge to beat Auel back into his precious slumber with a metal pipe and turned to the lead technician, who was clearly struggling to maintain order.

"They're just a little cranky," the technician explained.

_Really,_ thought Lee sarcastically. "You can get them under control enough to get their flight suits on and get out in their mobile suits, right?" he asked tiredly.

"Of course," the technician answered. "This is nothing. You should've seen them when we brought them out of the lab. Harrison is still learning how to walk again."

Lee decided not to dwell on that, and allowed himself a sigh. "As long as they're ready," he grumbled.

He glanced towards Sting. Sting had let some of the intensity of his death glare fall away, but he still looked unhappy to have been woken up. Lee had heard somewhere that Sting was the least conditioned of the three Extended aboard the _Girty Lue_—he had been physically and mentally enhanced, and he still had a block word and some mental conditioning, but he had been the least unruly of the three in their development. Auel had taken a bit more conditioning, and Stella had necessitated being turned into a near-vegetative simpleton. Somehow, of the three, Lee was the least negative towards Sting, but that was probably because he was about as close to being a decent soldier as any of the three Extended were ever going to get.

Nonetheless, Sting still looked supremely pissed. Lee sighed again.

"Have them ready as soon as possible," he instructed. The technician saluted dutifully, and Lee excused himself. As he returned to the bridge, his mind wandered.

_We won't be doing anything...dammit, Neo. What are you planning?_

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, en route to Junius 7**

Talia Gladys stared ruefully at the man sitting across the table from her. He was gleefully using his rank to get whatever the hell he wanted on the _Minerva_, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do to stop him.

Hopefully the people would soon grow tired of Gilbert Dullindal's pretty face and vote him out of office. He certainly had Talia's vote against him.

"Talia," he said, interrupting her thoughts. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity, gazing amusedly at her over a bottle of water. "You're being awfully distant." When she simply fixed him with a solid glare, he smiled. "Was our parting that bitter?"

"I told you I'd never forgive you for it," she growled. "And I'm a woman of my word."

Gilbert laughed airily, and Talia silently wished she had a bazooka to introduce his pretty head to. "And _I_ told _you_ that it was all necessary and you were just overreacting to it," he answered.

Talia bristled and rose to her feet, fists clenching. Now he'd crossed the line. "Goddammit, it was _never_ necessary and you knew it! You knew what you were doing to him!"

Gilbert frowned in annoyance. "Talia, you know as well as I do that anyone who seeks to change the world has to have someone to do the dirty work."

"He was _EIGHT YEARS OLD!_" Talia screamed, her eyes flashing. "You made an attack dog out of an _eight year old child!_ Are you happy, you monster?!"

Gilbert sneered. "You were always too attached to him, Talia. You knew all along what I had planned for him. Ever since we learned of his potential, you knew what I would be doing with him."

Talia nearly threw her chair at him, and only the last remaining scraps of common sense that had not retreated in fear of her anger stopped her. "That's because I have something called a conscience! Something you would do well to find one day, you bastard!" She scowled at him. "I told you I wanted a child, and we found him. He needed a family to love him. We were going to be his family. But you took him away, and turned him into your little assassin, and now I don't even recognize him anymore! Did you molest him too?! How many times did you scar his mind before you were done?!"

Gilbert scowled right back at her. "He showed Newtype potential," he snapped back, "and you were going to let it go to waste with piano lessons and summer camp and the same public education every other self-important suburban child would be getting. Newtypes are superior humans. They deserve better than bored underpaid teachers and monotonous piano lessons. I simply gave him what he deserved."

Talia's eyes flashed in fury. "He did _NOT_ deserve to be your lapdog!"

"He is a respected member of ZAFT," Gilbert shot back. "He graduated in the top percentile of the ZAFT Academy, and he's a ZAFT Red now. He's the second-in-command of this very warship's mobile suit squadron. He commands the respect his powers as a Newtype deserve. He never would have had this respect if I had left him in your care."

"That's not worth what you've done to him!" Talia snarled. "He's an unfeeling monster, and it's all your fault! You couldn't let him be! You saw some little trait in him and you had to bring it out and let that one flower blossom, even if you had to dig up the whole damn garden to do it!"

"Newtypes will not be brought about by sitting through piano lessons and public education," Gilbert snapped. "The great men who changed the world were not idle little boys—

"That's what he was supposed to be!" Talia yelled. She pounded her fists against the table furiously. "He was a scared little boy who needed a family, and what he got was a trainer!"

"That's what a Newtype needs," Gilbert answered.

"To hell with your Newtypes!" Talia screamed. "I wouldn't care if he was a three-headed alien from Mars! I'll still never forgive you for what you've done to him!"

"Yell and scream all you want," Gilbert said with a sigh, sniffing condescendingly. "You still can't change any of what I've accomplished. All you can do is sit here and pitch a fit."

Talia glowered at him, and silently vowed that one day she would make him pay.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"I just can't believe Junius 7 is moving."

The crew lounge had typically been quiet since the _Minerva_'s defeat in the Debris Belt, but Vino's words met a particularly unusual measure of silence. He and Yolant were sitting on a couch with Meyrin. Lunamaria had taken a nearby chair, while Rey and Shinn remained standing...and of course, Shiho was nowhere to be found.

"All those people who died there," Meyrin said softly, looking sadly at the ground. "And we have to..." She trailed off, unwilling to finish.

"Well, maybe it won't be so bad," Yolant offered, drawing looks from his companions. "I mean, the Earth is home to a lot of Naturals, and the Naturals have been the source of all our problems..."

The looks he was getting from his friends stopped him from saying anything more.

"All the people who died there...that's like their gravestone," Meyrin went on, almost whispering. "I hope—"

"Well, we can't let it fall," Luna interrupted, heedless of what Meyrin was saying. "Earth is our mother planet, and we can't just turn our backs when it needs our help." Meyrin glanced awkwardly at her sister, keeping her mouth shut.

"Yeah," Vino agreed, clenching his fists determinedly. "Even though we live in the PLANTs, we have to do our part too."

Shinn sniffed indifferently, unnoticed by the others. Meyrin glanced up at him. He quietly moved away, and Meyrin watched him carefully, as did Rey. Neither noticed Rey's watchful gaze as Meyrin just as quietly slipped away after him.

Shinn was resolutely leaving the lounge, his customary soda in hand, and Meyrin watched from the door, debating with herself whether she should say something. "Shinn!" she exclaimed suddenly, surprising herself and Shinn. He turned around, arching an eyebrow inquisitively at her. "Um, are you okay?" she murmured, a blush rising to her cheeks.

Shinn regarded her coldly for a moment. "I'm fine," he answered shortly, turning on his heel and disappearing around a corner before she could say anything more.

Meyrin found herself wanting to chase after him and strike up a conversation with him, but quickly perished the thought, knowing it would be futile at best. Shinn was hardly one for conversation, or, really, interaction of any kind. But earlier she had seen him and Luna having lunch—or, more accurately, Luna blathering on while Shinn sat there looking thoroughly robbed of his appetite. Surely if Luna could make any progress in cracking the emotional rock that was Shinn Asuka, Meyrin could too.

She returned to reality at the sound of footsteps, and promptly saluted as Shiho Hahnenfuss brushed past. She saluted back, but was most definitely distracted by a sheet of paper she was reading as she entered the lounge. Meyrin surreptitiously glanced at it over Shiho's shoulder, and found herself puzzled.

The name "Yzak Jule" sounded familiar...but from where?

She looked back at the corner Shinn had turned and disappeared behind. A tiny smile crossed her face—perhaps she'd just found an excuse to go talk to Shinn after all.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shiho Hahnenfuss was no fool; she knew she had changed. Her few remaining friends said she had grown colder, more single-minded, and more thoroughly ingrained into military discipline. But she didn't care. Most of her old teammates had died at the Second Battle of Jachin Due, but the one that was the most important, at least in Shiho's heart, had "merely" gone missing in action. Of course, "missing in action" meant "dead but not confirmed dead." And if it wasn't confirmed, that meant there was still hope.

Yzak Jule had made himself all but impossible to track. Shiho had to give him credit there; if he didn't want to be found, then he really didn't want to be found. So far all of her information showed that Yzak had deserted at Jachin Due. In December of CE 71, Ezaria Jule had been sentenced to death for "treason" and "war crimes"—charges that Shiho, personally, had her doubts about. Nonetheless, the people of the PLANTs had been shocked when word got out that the Duel Gundam had broken onto Aprilius 1 and literally began to tear the PLANT apart in search for Ezaria. In the end, Ezaria had still been killed, right before the Duel's eyes, and the Duel went on a rampage that the Justice and Buster Gundams had to come out of nowhere and stop. And when all was said and done, the Duel, Buster, and Justice had escaped, the world media had coined the phrase "Gundam," and Yzak Jule had once again vanished.

Other than that, however, all Shiho had to go off of was rumors, which said anything from Yzak shacking up in the Marshall Islands as a homicidal pedophile to him committing suicide in a colony in the L2 area. And Shiho had her doubts about almost all of them, particularly the ones involving child molestation. Yzak _hated_ kids.

She glanced at her watch. The _Minerva_ was set to reach Junius 7 in five hours. The pilots were to report to the briefing room in three. This left Shiho with two hours to continue her search for Yzak Jule, sifting through hundreds of news reports and stories. She cracked her knuckles, glancing ruefully at the crew lounge's other inhabitants. Two of the younger mechanics were blathering incessantly about Junius 7, while Lunamaria was nodding excitedly.

Rey caught her eye and he glanced indifferently at her. Shiho almost shivered—Rey was such a departure from his teammates. Unlike the almost frighteningly energetic Lunamaria and the angry antisocial Shinn, Rey seemed to be completely disconnected from emotion. Nothing could rile him up—he had even taken on blazing gunbarrels in the heat of battle with his usual calm, professional demeanor, hardly breaking a sweat against clearly superior all-range weaponry. Shiho could certainly appreciate professionalism, discipline, and a cool head, but Rey was a rock, in battle and out, and that made Shiho feel uncomfortable.

She silently wondered how Rey had managed to get this detached. But soon her thoughts drifted back to Yzak, and she returned her attention to the computer screen before her.

Someday she would find him. Someday she would meet him and convince him to come back to ZAFT. Someday she would be in his arms, gazing into that beautifully scarred face of his. And she was waiting.

Filled with determination, she set to work.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship **_**Girty Lue**_**, en route to Junius 7**

"Looks like a giant jellyfish."

Sting Oakley glanced over at Auel with an inquisitive facial expression. He looked back at Junius 7, on the monitor of the _Girty Lue_'s crew lounge.

Actually, it _did_ kind of look like a jellyfish, but Sting wasn't about to admit that.

"Jellyfish..." a voice repeated quietly. "...fish...sea...Stella wants to go to the sea."

Sting looked back at Stella, who was sitting on a couch and staring blankly at the screen.

"We can't go to the sea right now, Stella," he said slowly, knowing Stella would probably still fail to understand a good half of what he said. "We're in space."

"...space..." she echoed. She looked over at Sting, and then back at the screen. "Why is the jellyfish falling on Earth? Stella doesn't understand."

Sting glanced back at Auel, who shook his head. "Don't do it, man," he warned. "You're just setting yourself up for a headache."

"We're going to find out," Sting said, heedless of Auel's warning. Stella stared at him with unblinking eyes.

"...oh," she answered at last, and resumed staring at the screen.

Auel sighed and buried his face in his hand. "I seriously don't get it," he groused. "Why is she so brainless when we're not?"

Resisting the urge to throw the verbal jab Auel had set himself up for, Sting instead sighed. Auel knew perfectly well why Stella was a near-vegetative simpleton and he and Sting weren't—but he had never accepted it. Auel had never truly gotten over the idea that he was an Extended. Sting was well aware of what had happened to him, but Auel was in denial, and according to the technicians, only time would heal _that_ wound.

And Sting really hated that stupid cliché anyways.

"So what happens if it hits the Earth?" Auel asked suddenly. Sting glanced at him, and found that Auel actually looked curious as to the consequences of Junius 7's impact.

"A nuclear winter," he answered shortly, looking back at the screen.

"A what?" Auel asked, blinking.

"Nuclear winter is when there's so much dust in the sky that it blocks out the sun and turns the Earth cold," Sting explained.

"Oh," Auel said quietly. He too looked at the screen. "So are we going to stop it?"

"No," Sting said crossly. Auel blinked again and glared at Sting.

"Why the hell not?" he asked. "If we don't, then everyone on Earth will—"

Sting immediately clapped a hand over Auel's mouth, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"How many times do you have to be reminded _not to say that damn word_?!" he snapped, casting a meaningful glance towards Stella. Auel glared back and violently removed himself from Sting's grasp.

"Okay, okay, sorry," he grumbled. "Either way, my point still stands. Why aren't we gonna stop that thing?"

Sting glanced back up at the screen. "We don't have anything that could break it up."

Auel glared at the screen himself. "Well, we have to do some—"

"Sting," Stella spoke up suddenly. Sting and Auel glanced in surprise at her. "Will everyone die?"

Auel and Sting blinked and looked at each other.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Junius 7**

The bridge was silent as Junius 7 loomed before everything. In the captain's chair, Talia Gladys tensed—regardless of how she felt about Chairman Dullindal, he effectively had this entire ship, not to mention the entire Earth, as a shield. She would have to perform her duties to the best of her ability, and Gilbert would simply have to survive it all. Otherwise, the crew of the _Minerva_ and the people of Earth would die, and they were not to be dragged into her affairs.

She gripped the armrests of her chair harder. A sneaking suspicion was welling up deep inside her, towards Gilbert's unruffled countenance. The implications of Junius 7 hitting the Earth were staggering—a politician like him should have been biting his nails. What was he up to?

"Captain," Arthur spoke up nervously, breaking her reverie. "The _Voltaire_ and the _Rousseau_ report that everything is proceeding on schedule. What are our orders?"

Talia looked out at the imposing mass of Junius 7. "Launch our mobile suits to support the _Voltaire_ and _Rousseau_ in positioning the meteor breakers."

Arthur saluted and turned towards Meyrin's console, and Talia sat back uneasily.

"The _Voltaire_ and _Rousseau_ should be up to the task," Gilbert commented. "We will simply be—"

"Captain!" Meyrin exclaimed urgently. All eyes turned to her as she stared disbelievingly at her screen for a moment. "The _Voltaire_ reports its mobile suits are under attack!"

"Attack?!" Talia echoed incredulously. She turned around. "Burt, give us a visual!"

A few moments later, gasps went up around the bridge from all except Chairman Dullindal.

"Those are GINNs!" Arthur exclaimed in shock. "Are they—"

"Coordinators," Gilbert finished grimly. "Captain. We must work quickly before the Earth Alliance finds out about this."

Talia nodded in dour agreement. "Meyrin, order all mobile suits to change to combat equipment. Our primary objective now is to protect the meteor breakers and let the _Voltaire_ and _Rousseau_'s mobile suits get them into position."

"Yes ma'am!" Meyrin answered nervously.

Talia narrowed her eyes at Junius 7, and the tiny puffs of fire and lances of green beam shots around Junius 7's falling remains. She glanced back up at Chairman Dullindal. He was as calm and unperturbed as ever.

Something was amiss.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	4. Phase 04: Burning Gravestone

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 04 - Burning Gravestone

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 4th, CE 73 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, near Junius 7**

"I can't believe they're dropping it."

On the darkened bridge of the _Megami_, Murrue Ramius sat in the captain's seat, expectantly waiting for disaster to strike. The _Megami_ was steadily cruising towards the imposing remains of Junius 7, and already puffs of fire and beam shots could be seen against its darkened surface.

"This must be hard for the Coordinators," observed Arnold Neumann, at the helm. "Seeing Junius 7 like this, and having to destroy it."

From her seat near Murrue, Lacus Clyne looked sympathetically at him. "It's alright," she said gently. "If it has to be destroyed to save the people on Earth, it has to be destroyed. That's what the people who lived there would have wanted."

Murrue glanced over at her. She was still smiling, but that was all too easy to see through. Two years of pain had taken its toll on her, a toll not easily discernible by many, but Murrue could see it in her eyes. They had lost their usual glow; her smile was almost fake. But she smiled at Murrue, and Murrue could not help but smile back, even if she knew her own smile was indeed fake as well.

Outside, the _Megami_'s catapults were active. Out of the center catapult, the Aile Strike Rouge went hurtling forward, followed by Andrew Bartfeldt's crimson, gold-and-black-lined Aegis Gundam and Mwu La Fllaga's Aile Strike. Within moments the Orb Raiders' six Gundams were racing towards Junius 7, with the Orb Raiders' modest force of Murasames not far behind.

"They're really dropping this thing," Dearka Elthman's amazed voice muttered from the Buster. "Crazy bastards."

"How dare they," Yzak growled from the Duel. "It's a cemetery, dammit. You don't do this."

"Calm down," Athrun said sternly from the Justice. "ZAFT has four ships in there trying to install meteor breakers, but they're under attack from the guys who got this thing moving. We need to help them."

"If you say so," Dearka snorted skeptically. "Though I don't think they're gonna take too kindly to us."

"Then don't piss them off," Andy said shortly from the mobile armor mode Aegis. "We're almost there. Get ready."

On the bridge of the _Megami_, Murrue listened as Miriallia Haww grimly read off the report.

"ZAFT is reporting 25 percent casualties," she said somberly, "and have lost seven out of thirty two meteor breakers."

A visual of the attackers appeared on the main screen. Murrue frowned, puzzled.

"They're GINN High Maneuver IIs," Sai Argyle said somberly. "They're doing very well against ZAFT's new mobile suits." He paused, frowning. "Wait a minute," he added. "There's another signature here...this is that ship that stole those ZAFT machines from Armory 1!"

Murrue looked forward. "What?" Sure enough, the blue hull of that mystery battleship was cruising in from the opposite side of Junius 7, and the Chaos, Gaia, Abyss, and six black Doppelhorn Dagger Ls were on their way towards the battlefield. In front of Junius 7 were two _Nazca_-class destroyers, an _Eternal_-class cruiser, and the _Minerva_. And the _Megami_ was now cruising into the battle as well.

"I sure hope we're all on the same side this time," Mwu muttered from the Aile Strike. "Stopping this thing while fighting off those ZAFT troops will be a pain in the ass otherwise."

"Murasames," Andy said sternly, "be prepared to fight back and cover the ZAFT units that are trying to break this thing up. We'll take care of the other attackers."

"Commander," the as usual cautious voice of Martin DaCosta protested, "will you need cover?"

Andy snorted dismissively. "Of course not. You worry about Junius 7, we'll worry about the mobile suits."

Murrue sat back and prepared to wait. It surely would not come to ship-to-ship battle, but she ordered the weapons to stand by anyway. And with that done, all she could do was wait and hope.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Junius 7**

"It's them!"

The shouts went up among the ZAFT troops as they struggled against the mysterious horde of black and purple GINN High Maneuver IIs. A Blaze ZAKU Phantom alighted on a rock floating near Junius 7's descending remains, watching as another GuAIZ R was cut down by a GINN's beam blast.

"_Voltaire_," the pilot said, his words broadcast among the ZAFT ships and mobile suits, "we've confirmed the presence of the Orb Raiders."

As the _Minerva_'s four remaining mobile suits advanced, the news streamed into their cockpits. Inside the red Gunner ZAKU Warrior, Lunamaria gasped in surprise. The Orb Raiders—the rumors all said the Justice Gundam flew with the Orb Raiders! And the Justice's pilot was—

She keyed up the viewfinder and searched for any sign of the Orb Raiders.

Not far away, inside the Savior, Shiho glanced anxiously over her shoulder, looking in spite of herself for the Duel Gundam. It was rumored that the Duel was with the Orb Raiders, but that wasn't confirmed. And Shiho was still in charge of the mobile suits—she couldn't get too worked up yet.

She glanced over at the Force Impulse. Rey's white Blaze ZAKU Phantom was hovering almost possessively over the Impulse. Could she leave things in Rey's hands?

"Commander, what are your orders about the Orb Raiders?" Rey asked calmly. Shiho blinked for a moment.

"Leave them alone unless they attack you," she said haltingly. "We'll await official orders otherwise from Chairman Dullindal and Captain Gladys."

Shiho glanced back towards the dim shape of the Orb Raiders' infamous battleship, the _Megami_, as it slowly appeared on her right. Yzak had to be there. She would find him.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, near Junius 7**

"Athrun is here."

Valentine glanced across the locker room at Kira. He stood facing his locker, his helmet in his hands, staring down at the floor. His fingers clenched around the helmet's sides.

"Kira," Valentine said quietly, drifting over to him, taking him by the shoulders, and turning him around. "You will defeat him this time." She took him in his arms, burying his face in her chest, and ignoring his muffled exclamations of surprise. "You've trained for this. You will defeat him."

Kira looked up at her disbelievingly, his face still red. "Valentine—"

Valentine cut him off with a kiss, and he blinked again, his face growing even redder.

"I'll protect you out there, Kira," she murmured against his lips. "You won't have to face him alone."

"N-No," Kira protested stumblingly. "It's my fight."

"I know," Valentine said gently as she pulled away, "but I'll be there if you need me."

"Valentine," Kira murmured again, kissing her a second time. Valentine pulled away gently, smiling at him.

"After we return," she said soothingly, touching his reddened face. "To celebrate."

Kira blushed again, as Valentine drifted back to her locker and strapped her helmet on.

"For now, though," she continued, "we have a job to do." She closed the neck seals and looked back at him. "A mobile suit from the _Minerva_ will handle the meteor breakers. Commander Le Creuset will turn our troops against the Orb Raiders. You will be there to help us take them down."

"R-Right," Kira answered awkwardly. Valentine smiled at him as he put on his own helmet.

"You won't have to fight anymore," she said calmingly. "Just one last battle, Kira. Then you'll be free."

Kira nodded and followed Valentine out of the locker room.

In the mobile suit hangar, the gray forms of the Freedom and Providence Gundams stood side-by-side, along with Valentine's black, red-spattered ZAKU Phantom and a half-dozen standard green ZAKU Warriors, marked with distinctive white right-hand shoulder armor. The pilots were making their way into their machines. Rau Le Creuset, eschewing a space suit for his usual white uniform as usual, stood with crossed arms on the Providence's open cockpit hatch.

"You understand our mission, Kira?" Rau asked rhetorically from the Providence's hatch. Kira nodded and pushed off towards the Freedom. Valentine alighted near the Providence's hatch, and Rau looked emotionlessly at her.

"Is he ready?" he asked quietly.

Valentine smirked back.

"Of course he is," she said. "Just watch, Commander. You will see the true power of the Ultimate Coordinator."

"I should hope so," Rau snorted in annoyance. "Up until now all you've been doing with him is toying with him. I'm not sure how making him your illicit little slave will bring out his true potential."

Valentine's expression soured. "Hey, who's the manipulator here? I know what I'm doing."

Rau shrugged it off and uncrossed his arms. "Sato and his men are putting up quite a fight," he went on. "Our job here may be easier."

Valentine glanced over her shoulder at the Freedom, as Kira conversed with a couple of mechanics at its cockpit hatch.

"Then it will simply be up to him," she said softly.

"Stay near enough to help him if he needs it," Rau instructed. He turned and ducked into the Providence's cockpit. Valentine pushed off and aimed for her own ZAKU's cockpit, and landed on the hatch as the Slash Wizard pack was put into place.

She looked back one more time at the Freedom and smirked.

_Time to see how well my little soldier can fight._

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Junius 7**

"Shit," Shinn growled inside the Force Impulse Gundam. "Them again."

"We'll take them down for sure!" Luna exclaimed, scowling. Shinn's eyes picked out the Gaia ahead, as the Chaos, Gaia, Abyss, and six black Dagger Ls came streaking towards them. The Gaia had been the source of that mysterious pressure. This time, he would find out what was causing it.

Shinn engaged the booster. "Shinn!" Shiho shouted. "What are you doing?! Our objective—"

"Let him go," Rey said calmly, cutting her off. "We'll probably have to deal with them anyways."

An explosion flared up as the Daggers leapt into action, attacking the GuAIZ Rs and ZAKUs as they struggled to fend off the GINN High Maneuver IIs and set up the meteor breakers. A pair of Murasames from the Orb Raiders swept in, spewing beam fire, and the Daggers darted out of harm's way. The Chaos rocketed between them, towards a ZAKU stalwartly defending a meteor breaker, but a beam blast stopped it short and the distinctive crimson-and-black Aegis dropped down on top of it with a beam saber slash.

There was another flash as another GINN was destroyed, and from the flames emerged a familiar shape. Shiho gasped in surprise—was it the Duel?

"Rey, I'm leaving you in charge," she said shortly, cutting the comm before anyone could protest. The Savior darted out of formation in pursuit of the Duel.

Inside the cockpit of the ZAKU Phantom, Rey snorted dismissively. Gil had been right—Shiho's obsession with the former Commander Jule would indeed prove useful.

"Lunamaria," he said calmly, "go with the Commander. She will probably need help."

"R-Right," Luna said with a hint of disappointment. The Gunner ZAKU Warrior banked after the Savior, and Rey scanned the battlefield for the placement of the meteor breakers.

There was pressure on the battlefield. One point of pressure he recognized: it was Rau. Another pressure was faint but also familiar: it was the mobile armor pilot that had destroyed the _Minerva_'s mobile suits in the Debris Belt.

But there was a third pressure. It felt like Rau, but something had been changed. It was coming from the direction of the Orb Raiders.

Arming the beam rifle, Rey allowed a hint of a scowl to cross his face. Destiny would get moving, one way or the other, and no rogue Newtypes would be stopping it.

The ZAKU roared down onto the battlefield.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Andy blinked in surprise as the Aile Strike came into contact with the Aegis, and Mwu La Fllaga's dour face appeared on the monitor.

"Andy," Mwu said simply, "I feel pressure from something. Be careful."

Andy eyed him carefully. Damn Newtypes and their crazy pressure. "Pressure from what?"

"Three points," Mwu answered, unblinkingly. "One is definitely Creuset. One of them I don't recognize, but it's faint and it's coming from that blue ship that nixed those ZAFT Gundams." His eyes narrowed. "Yeah...I know who he is."

"Who is he?" Andy asked. Mwu paused for a moment.

"I used to be in an Earth Alliance mobile armor unit," he said quietly. "This pressure I'm feeling...it has to be...he was my commander. Neo Roanoke." He paused again. "And one..." Andy's brow furrowed.

"What?"

"One of them is like Creuset."

Andy quirked an eyebrow. "'Like Creuset?' What do you mean?"

"It's like there's two Creusets," Mwu said, pausing as he tried to search for words to explain. "One is definitely Creuset, but the other...it's like a shadow of him."

"A shadow?" Andy asked, blinking again. Mwu shook his head in frustration.

"Well, don't you worry about it, I will. But if you run into someone who really gives you trouble, tell me and I'll take care of him."

Andy narrowed his eyes at Mwu. "Are you saying that because I don't have special powers like you?"

Mwu looked grimly at him. "Yes," he said bluntly.

Andy stifled a sigh. Another time he would have argued with Mwu—but something stopped him. It wasn't worth arguing. Mwu was different, and had a special, higher power—and Andy couldn't argue with _that_.

"I'll let you know," he said gruffly. The Aegis disengaged the communication link, and Andy sat back, staring resolutely ahead at Junius 7.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The GINN High Maneuver IIs were not long in noticing the incoming Orb Raider mobile suits. As the Murasames branched off to cover ZAFT's beleaguered GuAIZ Rs and ZAKUs, several of the GINNs broke off and charged towards the Justice Gundam. Athrun narrowed his eyes, but he blinked in surprise as a voice tore through his cockpit.

"How dare you!"

The GINN this was coming from charged and fired with its beam carbine. Athrun dodged the shots and fired back, but the GINN dodged with ease and deflected the remaining shots with its shield.

"How dare you!" the voice repeated. "We come here to drop and burn this gravestone and right the world's wrongs, and you of all people come to stop us?! Athrun Zala!"

"Athrun!" Cagalli's Strike Rouge came screaming in with a beam rifle blast, but two more GINNs rose to meet her with drawn swords. Athrun returned his attention to the opponent who knew his name as it strove to flank him.

"We came here to right ZAFT's wrongs!" the mystery pilot shouted. There was a blast as a meteor breaker went off, and another as the GuAIZ R that had planted it was destroyed. "ZAFT became weak with Clyne and his successors!" The GINN drew its sword and slammed it against the Justice's shield, and Athrun grunted against the blow, drawing the Justice's beam saber to swing back. "He let this happen! He let these people die!" Athrun scowled and forced the GINN back. Another GINN came screaming in behind him, and Athrun ejected the Fatum, swiveled around, and blasted it down with the Justice's beam cannons. The mystery pilot's GINN roared in again, and Athrun boosted upward to dodge its sword swing.

There was another blast as another GuAIZ R was wiped out, and Athrun glanced to his right. Yzak's Duel dove away from the explosion as a GINN pursued, but with a quick movement, the Duel cut the thrusters, letting the GINN overtake it, and in one beam shot the GINN was wiped out in another explosion.

"Shit," Yzak grunted, "these guys are Coordinators too!"

"All the more reason not to let this thing drop!" Andy shouted, as the Aegis shot by in mobile armor mode overhead, with the transformed Chaos hot on its tail.

There was another blast as the mystery GINN came storming in again, and Athrun deflected its sword strike with the Justice's shield. He brought the subflight lifter storming in behind the GINN, but the mysterious attacker somersaulted over it, and Athrun barely managed to twist it out of the way of the follow-up beam shot and dock again with it. The GINN charged back into Athrun's face for another sword swipe.

"You traitor!" the pilot shouted as the sparks flew. "You betrayed us! You betrayed us all!"

Athrun grunted as the GINN pushed harder, but a moment later beam shots from the Strike Rouge forced it off. "Athrun!" Cagalli cried, as the Strike Rouge came to a halt next to the Justice. "Athrun, what's wrong?!"

He _was_ a traitor. He _had_ betrayed his friends, his family, Rusty, Miguel, Nicol...his own people, and he had turned his back on them. He looked at Junius 7, as the GINNs steadily shot the GuAIZ Rs and ZAKUs out of the sky.

"Athrun, snap out of it!" Cagalli shouted, interrupting his untimely rumination. The Strike Rouge grabbed hold of the Justice's arm.

The mystery GINN came screaming in again, and the Justice and Strike Rouge darted apart to avoid a sword slash. Athrun shook his head and focused on his adversary, snapping his beam saber into a fighting stance.

"Why don't you understand?!" the pilot screamed. The sword came down against the Justice's shield. "Why don't you understand that Patrick Zala chose the right path for us Coordinators?!"

Athrun's eyes widened in horror, and the Justice lurched as the GINN delivered a kick to its chest. An image flashed before Athrun's eyes of his father's superweapon, GENESIS, leveled off at the oncoming Earth Alliance fleet, firing, wiping them all out...

The GINN charged in for a finishing blow, but the Strike Rouge dropped in its way and chased it off with a round of beam shots.

"Athrun!" Cagalli screamed. "What the hell is wrong with you, Athrun?!"

Athrun looked at her numbly. She had been there too, when he found his father...

"Athrun, snap out of it!" Cagalli exclaimed. "Or else you'll get killed out here!"

Beam shots rained down on the Strike Rouge, and the pink mobile suit deflected them with its shield and fired back. The three incoming GINNs branched off, but one was caught in Cagalli's returning salvo and destroyed.

Athrun shook his head again. Cagalli was right; he had to fight. He couldn't die out here. Not yet.

A pair of GuAIZ Rs below was struggling to put a meteor breaker into position, and a trio of GINNs was sweeping in for the kill. Athrun narrowed his eyes and charged.

_I can still stand in your way, Father._

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Shit!" Sting shouted, as the Chaos rattled. He raised the Chaos's shield to deflect another beam shot as the crimson Aegis went back on the offensive. "How the hell can he do so well in such an old machine?!"

The Aegis stormed in with an ignited beam saber and the mobile suits met in a shower of sparks. Sting's eyes widened as his eyes caught sight of a stylized tiger's head stamped onto the Aegis's left shoulder armor. He'd seen that emblem before in training—that was the Desert Tiger!

"No way!" Sting snarled, pushing back against the Aegis and forcing it back. He drew the Chaos's beam saber, scowling at his opponent. "The Desert Tiger! Just my fucking luck!"

The Aegis charged again, and the Chaos deflected its saber stroke with its shield, swinging back. The Aegis would not be taken down so easily and mirrored the Chaos's move, leaving both mobile suits pushing helplessly against each other.

Sting narrowed his eyes at the Aegis and concentrated. The gunbarrels lifted off.

"Alright, Desert Tiger," he yelled. "Let's see you stand up to _THIS!_"

The gunbarrels activated and took off with a flash, while Sting pushed the Aegis forward with a blast from the Chaos's thrusters. As the Aegis tumbled backwards, out of the Chaos's way, the gunbarrels opened fire, and the Aegis immediately began to dodge for its life. Sting smirked, watching his foe dive this way and that, and charged towards it. The Aegis revved up its own saber and charged back, Sting saw a flash of yellow at the bottom of his field of vision, the Chaos rattled as the mobile suits clashed—

And Sting cursed as he realized that the Aegis had just torn a long gash across the Chaos's chest.

"Goddamn Tiger," he growled, spinning around to face the Aegis. It came charging in again, but Sting stopped it with a barrage of missiles from the gunbarrels, and the Aegis reverted to its mobile armor form and took off.

Still scowling, Sting recalled his gunbarrels, transformed his own machine, and took off after the Aegis.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The ground shook as a mobile suit set down, and inside the Savior Gundam, Shiho cast a cursory glance over her surroundings tensely. The Duel Gundam had set down here. She opened up the comm frequencies and looked around again. She would find him. She had seen him. She wouldn't let him get away.

The Duel appeared from behind a loose piece of the PLANT's wreckage. Shiho's eyes widened in anticipation—it was the same Duel she remembered, with the gleaming Assault Shroud and all! A GINN High Maneuver II rose up after it with its beam carbine raised, but Shiho fired a beam rifle blast to take it down. The Duel turned in surprise, and Shiho immediately opened a communication link.

There he was. Yzak Jule. His scarred face still twisted in anger, framed by a white helmet. Shiho smiled.

"Commander Jule," she said quietly. "We meet again."

Yzak Jule blinked in surprise. "Shiho? That's you in there?"

Shiho swallowed the growing lump in her throat. She couldn't cry. Not here. "It is," she said, her eyes tearing up in spite of herself. "H-How have you been, Commander?"

Yzak's face immediately went stern. "This isn't the time for that," he snapped. As if to emphasize his point, another GINN dove in from nowhere. The Savior ducked as the Duel shot it out of the sky with a single beam blast. "I didn't come here for you," Yzak added. "I came to stop this thing."

The Duel turned to leave, but the Savior reached towards it, stopping it, and Yzak glared back at Shiho.

"I..." she started hesitantly, "I've been looking for you."

Yzak fixed her with another glare, but Shiho was undeterred.

"Why did you go?" she asked.

A Blaze ZAKU Warrior exploded in the sky above them.

Yzak narrowed his eyes. "All of PLANT knows why I left," he snarled. "ZAFT killed my mother. I'll never forgive them."

"But we need you!" Shiho protested. "These kids need one of the old Creuset team pilots in charge!"

The Duel spun around and swung its beam rifle up into the Savior's face, and Shiho's eyes widened in surprise.

"I mean it!" Yzak yelled. "I'm never going back to ZAFT! Not after what they did! If being around me is so important to you then you can leave ZAFT too! But I'm not going back!"

Shiho stared disbelievingly at Yzak's scowling face. "Yzak..."

"Now shut up," Yzak snapped, "and go help your allies set up the meteor breakers. That's all _I_ came to do."

"But what about me?" Shiho exclaimed as the Duel turned again.

"What _about_ you?" Yzak asked in irritation. Shiho blinked again, tears welling up in her eyes once again. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. She knew Yzak would be like this, but to think he would actually point a weapon at her...

"I...I need you here," she said quietly, almost whispering. Yzak stared at her for a moment before he looked away.

"I'm not going back," he said, though his voice had lost some of its edge. "I can't anyways."

"Yzak!" Shiho protested. "I—"

Everything was interrupted in a burst of static, and a moment later a voice could be heard over everything.

"Attention ZAFT mobile suit forces," the voice began authoritatively. "This is Commander Rau Le Creuset!"

Shiho looked up into the space above Junius 7, and sure enough, a bone-white _Eternal_-class cruiser was hovering over the battlefield. And floating above Junius 7 was the Providence Gundam.

"All mobile suit forces are to be advised that the Orb Raiders have hostile intent! Do not allow them anywhere near you! Drive them off at all costs!"

"What?!" Yzak exclaimed in outrage. "We're here to stop this fucking thing, the same as you! Commander Creuset, what the hell are you talking about?!"

"Yzak!" Shiho shouted.

"All mobile suits are warned, the Orb Raiders have hostile intent!"

Creuset's voice disappeared, and everything went to hell.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Inside his white Blaze ZAKU Phantom, and behind the sturdy bole of a desiccated building, Rey Za Burrel looked over the scenery. The ZAFT mobile suits were busily trying to fend off the attacking GINNs, and the Daggers certainly weren't helping either. Rau's orders to attack the Orb Raider mobile suits had also proven effective, as none of the ZAFT mobile suits were attending to the meteor breakers.

As his crosshairs passed over one of them, Rey narrowed his eyes. Gil's new world order would be finally begin to be realized with this shot.

A single beam rifle shot later, the meteor breaker exploded, wiping out a nearby pair of GuAIZ Rs. Rey ducked to safety, using the blast as a shield, and dove out of the vicinity and after a nearby GINN.

Close by was another meteor breaker. Rey tilted his beam rifle to the side, firing at the meteor breaker and destroying it as well. The GINN threw its shield up to block the blast, and Rey eyed it carefully.

"Are you helping us?" the GINN's pilot asked wearily. Rey's expression did not change as the ZAKU Phantom stood to its full height, and its monoeye flashed.

"Chairman Dullindal thanks you for your valiant sacrifice for the coming new world order," he said authoritatively. "Unfortunately, your utility to his plans has expired. Farewell." He raised the ZAKU's beam rifle and, before the GINN could react, drilled a shot through its cockpit, destroying it in a blaze.

Turning, he found a trio of GINNs sweep down on a GuAIZ R and a Gunner and Slash ZAKU Warrior defending another meteor breaker, and though two of the GINNs were destroyed in a beam volley, the third one managed to squeeze off a shot that pierced the meteor breaker and destroyed them all. Rey looked around the battlefield again—if he could only take out a few more meteor breakers, then whatever happened next wouldn't matter.

Even that obnoxious pressure he was sensing wouldn't matter. It felt like Rau, but it had something else to it, some element that Rey couldn't identify. It was like sensing the same person, but twice the pressure—and that pressure was not completely identical.

Rey willed the distractions out of his mind. Gil's plan was more important. It would be accomplished, no matter what.

He clenched his fists around the controls of his mobile suit and took off into the fray.

——————————————————————————————————————————

With a loud electrical shriek, the Force Impulse and Gaia Gundams met in a clash of beam sabers and a shower of sparks. Shinn grunted and squinted through the light at his foe. The Gaia stared back impassively at him.

"Damn you," he growled. "I'll kill you here!"

Inside the Gaia, Stella stared back angrily at her own opponent.

"You again," she snarled. "I'll take you down!"

The Gundams separated with a shriek and circled around each other, charging again. Inside the Impulse, Shinn let out a yell, and the mobile suits slammed together. Shinn cursed under his breath as his beam saber was deflected by the Gaia's shield, and swung his own shield up to deflect the Gaia's saber. The two machines were stuck against each other, and Shinn gunned the Force Impulse's booster, roaring down towards Junius 7 and pushing the Gaia backwards.

"This is it!" Shinn shouted. "Die already!"

Inside the Gaia, Stella glanced down at the fast-approaching ground. "I won't lose!" she yelled defiantly, firing the Gaia's own boosters. The Gundams were stuck pushing helplessly against each other in midair, and both pilots grunted as their machines shook.

Shinn blinked in surprise as he was aware of that distinct pressure again. It only came from this machine—but why?

A strange feeling flashed through him. Arrayed in front of the Impulse was the Gaia, and from it was emanating an utter storm of feelings—Shinn didn't know why he could sense it. But somehow he knew that a tornado of emotion was swirling and twisting inside the Gaia's cockpit, and all that raw emotion was being thrown at him.

The Gaia and the Impulse jetted apart again, and the Gaia fired its beam cannons at the Impulse.

"_YOU!_" Stella screamed. Shinn deflected the shots with his shield and kicked a stray piece of Junius 7 towards the Gaia. Stella scowled and slashed the rock in half lengthwise with her beam saber, kicking the two halves apart and charging up towards the Impulse.

The sabers clashed again, and Stella gunned the Gaia's booster to push the Impulse backwards, screaming all the way. Shinn grunted as he was pressed back in his seat, and quickly kicked the Gaia up in the chest. As it stumbled back, Shinn kicked it again, slamming it down into the ground, and stormed in for the kill. But as he landed with a saber slash, his attack came up empty—the Gaia somersaulted backwards and delivered a devastating kick to the Impulse's chin. Shinn grunted as he was thrown back into his seat again and raised the Impulse's shield to barely deflect the Gaia's follow-up saber slice.

"Dammit," Shinn growled, feeling pain flare up on his head and a warm fluid trickle down his temple. His head throbbed like a drum, but he pushed the pain aside with sheer willpower and charged again, shoulder-ramming the Gaia and knocking it back. With a final kick to the face, he pulled back and dove behind a towering, abandoned building for cover.

Swiftly pulling off his helmet, Shinn was dismayed to discover blood inside, matting his hair and on the right side of his head—he'd hit his head hard enough to negate even the padding inside his helmet. Snarling, he put the helmet back on and the Impulse dove back out of cover.

The Gaia was still collecting its wits, and in the cockpit, Stella felt tears in her eyes and a burning pain and blood on her head. She ignored the pain as she was taught to and stared at the Impulse. That scary blue Gundam had hurt her. It was going to pay.

"You," she growled, "_I'LL FINISH YOU!_"

The Gaia drew back its beam saber and charged. Shinn tensed.

"Damn you," he sneered, raising the Impulse's saber. "This ends here!"

The Impulse charged back, and the mobile suits met with a crash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Yzak!" Shiho cried, as the Savior boosted into the Duel's path, blocking its way. "Yzak, please, listen to me! At least stay around after the battle so I can talk to you!"

"Get out of my way!" Yzak shouted back. He raised the Duel's beam rifle and pointed it at the Savior's chest. "Otherwise I'll use this thing! This is your last chance, Shiho!"

"Commander Hahnenfuss!" another voice shouted. Beam shots came flashing down out of the sky, and Lunamaria's red Gunner ZAKU Warrior came hurtling out of nowhere, firing its beam rifle at the Duel. Yzak snarled and jetted backwards, deflecting the shots with his shield and firing back.

"Lunamaria! Stop it!" Shiho shouted, as the ZAKU slammed down nearby. "He's not our enemy!"

"But Commander Le Creuset said—" Luna protested.

"_SHIT_, all of you shut up and get the fuck out of my way!" Yzak screamed. The Duel crouched to take off again, but Luna opened fire again and Yzak was forced to dodge. "I don't have time for this!"

"Lunamaria, I told you to stop!" Shiho yelled.

"But Commander, it's an enemy!" Luna exclaimed. "We can't—" She was cut off as the Duel raised its beam rifle and drilled a shot through Luna's rifle, and she abandoned the sparking remains before they exploded and activated the Gunner ZAKU's long-range beam cannon.

"Yzak isn't an enemy!" Shiho screamed, as Luna's ZAKU opened fire again on the Duel. Yzak stormed in, clipping his rifle to the Duel's leg and drawing a beam saber, and slashed the cannon in half, smacking the ZAKU aside with a kick to the chest. It rocketed down into Shiho's face, slicing the Savior's beam rifle in half and knocking it backwards with its shield.

"I'll stop him!" Luna shouted, charging back in with the ZAKU's beam tomahawk. The two mobile suits met with a crash, and Luna yelped in surprise as the Duel struck back with a body slam. Before she knew it, the Duel had severed her ZAKU's right arm at the elbow, and a kick to the face forced her backwards. The Duel raised its beam saber for a killing slash—

And an instant later, the Savior had shouldered the ZAKU aside and deflected the slash with its shield.

"Lunamaria! Retreat! That's an order!" Shiho shouted, glaring furiously at her.

Luna stared at her for a moment. "Yes ma'am," she said quietly, as the ZAKU turned and took off.

"Why are you still getting in my way, Shiho?!" Yzak snapped. "I'll kill you if you make me! Now move!"

The Duel fired its thrusters all at once, slamming the Savior backwards and burying it in rubble. With a roar of engines, the Duel leapt up into the air, replacing its beam saber on its backpack and drawing its rifle again. A GINN came diving in, sword drawn back, but the Duel somersaulted over its sword slash and fired a beam rifle shot into its back, and then continued on its original path, in one fluid motion.

The Savior dug itself out of the rubble, and Shiho glanced around frantically for any sign of the Duel.

"It can't be," she murmured.

A GINN came sailing in, and Shiho turned towards in.

"I lost him," she whispered to herself. The GINN raised its beam carbine, and reflex and instinct took over as Shiho leapt over the shot and charged down to slice the GINN in two.

The Savior landed as the GINN exploded, and Shiho turned around to find more GINNs coming towards her.

"I lost him," she repeated. "I...I..."

The eyes flashed, Shiho screamed, and the Savior charged.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"_Megami_, this is Strike," the voice of Mwu La Fllaga reported dourly, as the Aile Strike landed on Junius 7. "We've got some problems here."

"So we've heard," Murrue's voice answered grimly. She paused as a GINN came streaking in towards Mwu's Strike, and he deflected its shots with his shield and shot it down with his beam rifle. "Those two _Nazca_ aren't looking very friendly either."

"Then I guess you should pull back," Mwu said curtly. "There's no sense risking yourself here."

Another explosion flashed overhead, and Andy's Aegis dove by in mobile suit mode, landing and jumping off again as a volley of missiles slammed down into the ground. Mwu took cover behind his shield as the Chaos and its flashing gunbarrels roared by overhead. A storm of beam shots flew by next, and Dearka's Buster slammed down onto the ground next to Mwu. The Abyss raised its lance overhead, dropping down for a victorious slash.

Mwu raised his beam rifle and fired, forcing the Abyss back. It responded with a flurry of beam shots, and the Buster dove behind the Strike as Mwu took the shots to his shield.

"Thanks," Dearka grunted as the Buster combined its guns. He fired the high-energy rifle into the sky, and the Abyss dodged and fired back with its chest cannon. The Buster and Strike leapt away from each other as the shot smashed into the ground.

"Mwu," Murrue said urgently. "Are you alright?"

"We'll be fine," Mwu answered with a smirk. "This guy isn't so tough."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Murrue elaborated, her face grim. "The altitude..."

Mwu's eyes widened as he remembered Junius 7's altitude. He looked up and dove out of the way as the Abyss came down with a lance slash. "Shit, the altitude! We're gonna have to pull out soon!"

Not far away, the Buster unleashed a shower of missiles on the Abyss, forcing it back. "Did they get any meteor breakers in place?!" Dearka asked as the Buster alighted next to the Strike.

Junius 7 began to rumble, and the ground began to splinter.

"I guess that answers that," Mwu muttered, as Junius 7 began to split and the Abyss was thrown in the opposite direction of the Strike and Buster.

Mwu glanced over his shoulder at the Earth. They were running out of time.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Junius 7 splintered and before Shinn knew it, he had lost the Gaia among all the loose debris. He glanced over his shoulder—half of Junius 7 was still falling towards the Earth. With a sigh, he turned and boosted towards it.

Down below was an explosion, and pair of GINNs dove in towards a mobile suit standing stalwartly in front of a meteor breaker. The mobile suit struck back, and two spinning white objects ripped through the GINNs and destroyed them. Shinn's eyes widened—those were beam boomerangs, belonging to—

The Justice Gundam caught its boomerangs, returned them to its shoulders, and looked up at the Impulse.

"You!" Shinn shouted, boosting towards the Justice. "I'll take your head for sure!"

"Stop!" the pilot's voice shouted. Shinn slammed on the brakes, eyes widening, as the grim face of Athrun Zala appeared before him. "We have more important things to worry about!"

Beam shots flashed around them, and the Justice and Impulse both pulled back as a dozen GINNs came roaring in, beam carbines blazing.

Shinn grunted and glanced at the Justice.

"We're here to stop Junius 7 too," Athrun Zala said as the Justice dove behind cover. Shinn ducked behind a burnt-out building as the GINNs attacked. "We're on the same side here," Athrun continued. The Justice drew its beam saber. "They're our enemies."

Shinn clenched his teeth in fury. Athrun Zala was a traitor, but Junius 7 couldn't be allowed to fall on the Earth either.

The Impulse drew its beam saber as well, and the two Gundams glanced at each other.

"What's your name?" Athrun asked quietly. Shinn glared back at him for a moment.

"Shinn," he said tersely. "Shinn Asuka."

Athrun nodded. "Alright then, Shinn," he said, looking back at the oncoming GINNs. "We're both in the same boat, so we're going to have to work together. You take the GINNs on the right. I'll handle the left. Okay?"

Shinn nodded again after a moment's hesitation, and Athrun narrowed his eyes.

"Go!"

The Impulse and the Justice charged out of their hiding places, beam sabers ignited. The GINNs stormed towards them, and Shinn let out a yell.

The Impulse ducked beneath the first GINN's beam shot and stabbed through its chest, wiping it out in a blaze. The second GINN came sliding in around him, sword drawn, but Shinn swung his own saber, cleaving through the GINN's sword and through its waist. A pair of beam shots from the Justice seared over the Impulse's head, taking down a GINN behind him, and Shinn glanced over at the Justice. Another GINN stormed into his field of view and he slashed it in two, and then drew his beam rifle to shoot down a fifth GINN, ejecting the Justice's subflight lifter in one fluid motion. Athrun bisected the sixth and seventh in one slash, while the lifter smashed into an eighth GINN rushing in behind the Justice. Shinn finished it off with a burst of CIWS fire, as the subflight lifter circled back overhead. The ninth GINN rose up behind Shinn with its sword raised, but Shinn stabbed backwards to take it out. The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth stormed in towards the Justice as it docked with its subflight lifter, but Shinn picked off one with his beam rifle and Athrun slashed the remaining two in half.

As the smoke cleared, the Justice looked over at Shinn.

"Help me get that meteor breaker set up," Athrun said, as the Justice gestured towards the machine. Shinn hesitantly put away his beam saber and rifle, and the two machines drifted to the breaker and set to work positioning it.

"Why does someone like you work for Orb...?" Shinn asked, glaring across the way at the Justice.

Athrun looked back, blinking. He opened his mouth to reply—

And then everything began to shake.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Junius 7**

It was still falling. Nothing they could do would stop it now.

Gilbert Dullindal sat on the bridge of the _Minerva_, watching emotionlessly as the beleaguered ZAFT mobile suits struggled to stop Junius 7's inexorable descent. The mysterious blue warship that had so dramatically stolen the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss Gundams had withdrawn as it passed the threshold altitude—nothing more could be done now. The _Voltaire_ and _Rousseau_ were pulling back, but some of the GINN-piloting terrorists who were dropping this colony still remained, making any sort of withdrawal difficult. The _Minerva_ had boldly decided to forge on ahead and break up as much of the remains as possible with its positron cannon, and so Gilbert, sitting behind the captain and allowing her to take care of things now, sat back and waited.

Outside, most of the ZAFT forces had pulled back, but some still remained, fighting the terrorists as the edges of Junius 7's outline began to glow red.

"Chairman," Talia interrupted quietly, glancing up at him. "This will be a rough reentry sequence."

Gilbert calmly smiled. "I didn't think it wouldn't be," he answered dismissively. "I'll be fine, Captain. You have more important things to worry about."

Talia turned back around. "Shield the bridge," she ordered. "Charge the Tannhäuser and prepare for the reentry sequence."

The bridge lowered down into the _Minerva_'s darkened battle bridge, and Gilbert sat back to wait.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Junius 7**

"Shit, Yzak, how long were you off with your girlfriend for?"

Yzak scowled at the Buster as the Duel alighted on the deck of the _Megami_.

"That's Yzak," Andy said, as the Aegis turned to look at the bridge. "But where's Athrun?"

"Athrun hasn't come back yet?" Cagalli asked, as the Strike Rouge stood up.

"Princess, don't," one of the Murasame pilots started. The Strike Rouge revved up its engines, and a trio of Murasames moved in to hold her down.

"Wait!" Cagalli shouted. "But what about—shit! Athrun! Where are you?!"

Yzak glanced over his shoulder, looking for the Justice.

"Athrun will be fine," Dearka said calmingly, standing in front of the Strike Rouge anyways. Yzak narrowed his eyes.

_Where'd that bastard go anyways...?_

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn looked around uneasily. Junius 7 was entering the atmosphere, and it was still mostly in one piece. The GINN-piloting terrorists had wiped out most of the meteor breakers destined for Junius 7, and though it had been split in two, one half was still plummeting towards the Earth. Athrun Zala's Justice Gundam stood by him with an activated meteor breaker, but no effect could be seen.

A beam blast smashed into the ground by them both, and one last GINN came roaring in.

"I will kill you here, Athrun Zala!" the pilot screamed. "You will pay for your treachery, on the grave of those who died for it!"

"What the hell is this?" Shinn exclaimed, as the Impulse drew a beam saber and crouched for battle.

The GINN raised its sword, and Athrun drew the Justice's beam saber and tensed for the blow—

And a moment later, beam shots slashed through the GINN, wiping it out. The Justice rattled, a beam saber slammed against its shield—

"Kira!"

The Freedom Gundam floated over the Justice.

Kira Yamato's eyes flashed beneath the plastic and metal of a red ZAFT flight suit and helmet. The elegant insignia of FAITH was stenciled on the chest of his flight suit and the Freedom's left shoulder.

"You!" Shinn shouted incredulously.

"I expected to see you here, Athrun," Kira said quietly.

"What are you doing here, Kira?!" Athrun exclaimed. "I thought you were—"

"Be quiet!"

The Freedom pushed the Justice away, and the two mobile suits landed roughly on the surface of Junius 7. The Freedom pointed its beam saber combatively at the Justice.

"You thought you killed me two years ago, didn't you?" Kira growled. Athrun stared in open-mouthed shock—this was not the Kira Yamato that had fought by his side at Jachin Due. "But now look at me," Kira went on, glowering at Athrun. "I'm in FAITH. I'm a soldier. I'm respected and loved for who _I_ am, not for my powers as a Coordinator experiment." The Freedom began stalking ominously towards the Justice, and Athrun backed away to keep his distance. "I have the power to protect people now, Athrun. The power to protect people from _you_."

"Kira—" Athrun began, but the Freedom charged, and the beam sabers slammed together in a shower of sparks.

"You killed her!" Kira screamed, his eyes alight with fury. "I saw you kill her, Athrun!"

"You don't understand, Kira!" Athrun cried back. "I was aiming for Creuset, but he—"

"LIAR!"

The Freedom lunged forward, sending the Justice staggering back, and charged in for a killing blow Athrun barely managed to deflect.

In the Impulse, Shinn watched in disbelief as the Freedom attacked the Justice. He saw his family dead on the blasted hillside of Onogoro Island in CE 71, and he felt his blood run hot.

"You," he snarled, his fists clenching around the Impulse's controls.

"Kira, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Athrun shouted. "Get a hold of yourself! Kira!"

The Freedom charged again, and Athrun grunted, swinging back in a quick counterstrike that left the two Gundams' sabers locked again.

"You made me your little weapon to bring peace!" Kira shrieked, as the world began to turn red. Athrun looked around urgently—Junius 7 was entering the atmosphere. Continuing this fight was suicide. "You used me as the Ultimate Coordinator! You saw me and the Freedom as the _same thing!_" The Freedom pushed harder, and Athrun grunted under the pressure. "And now you're here again to stop me from doing what must be done!"

Athrun grunted again as the Freedom tried to lunge, and the two mobile suits were left pushing against each other. "Kira, we're here to _stop_ this thing!" he shouted back. "But now we can't! Now come on, we have to get out of here! Staying here now is—"

Both were cut off as the familiar red and blue of a positron shot ripped up through the ground. Athrun realized in horror that the winged ZAFT warship, the _Minerva_, was trying to break up the remaining pieces of Junius 7 with a positron cannon. He yelped in surprise as the Justice quaked again, and looked back to find the Freedom attacking once again.

"Kira, are you mad?!" he screamed. "We're on a giant piece of Junius 7 in atmospheric reentry, and the _Minerva_'s blasting it apart with a fucking positron cannon! Do you not see any danger here or what?!"

"Be quiet!" Kira shrieked back. The Freedom drew back its beam saber and lunged towards the Justice. "I'll make you pay, Athrun!"

The Freedom came charging in, but the Impulse slammed into it with its shield.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Shinn screamed. "Your head is mine!"

The Freedom kicked the Impulse in the face, knocking it away, and Shinn let out a yell as the Impulse tumbled away over the flashing red debris.

"Shinn!" Athrun shouted. His attention returned as the Freedom came blazing in for another attack.

Athrun ground his teeth, saw an opening, and in an instant delivered a scything roundhouse kick to the Freedom's head, sending it staggering back. With the Freedom momentarily distracted, Athrun unleashed a spray of molten debris from the ground of Junius 7 with his beam saber and dove backwards for cover. Up ahead, he could see the blazing red silhouette of the _Minerva_ as it swung its positron cannon around again for another shot.

Athrun looked around one more time, but Kira was nowhere to be found.

The ground shook again, and Athrun grunted in pain as he was thrown back into the Justice's cockpit seat. He tensed and latched onto the ground, and prayed for a miracle.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Earth's atmosphere, over Pacific Ocean**

The world was red. Shinn Asuka squinted. His head was pounding. Very far, down on the surface, he could see the dim form of a handful of islands in a mass of water. A sinking feeling dawned on him as he realized where he was headed.

_Orb..._

The memories came flooding back, and he squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head fiercely, trying to force them off. He refused to again see his parents' corpses, Mayu's severed arm, the smoldering crater, and the Freedom overhead...

A shape to his right caught his eye, and looking across, he saw the Justice Gundam riding a shrinking piece of Junius 7 through the atmosphere. Shinn blinked in surprise as the frictional cherry glow of atmospheric reentry began to fade, and the Justice discarded its atmospheric shield. Overhead, the distinctive black warship of the Orb Raiders, the _Megami_, glided in through the atmosphere, and the Justice fired its thrusters and rushed up towards it.

The _Minerva_ was not long in following and was steadily gliding down towards Orb. Shinn looked after the retreating _Megami_ with a suspicious glare.

At last, he cut the thrusters and boosted up towards the _Minerva_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	5. Phase 05: The End of the World

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 05 - The End of the World

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 4th, CE 73 - Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Earth orbit**

"Will everyone die?"

The bridge went silent at Stella Loussier's anxious question. She floated near the front of the bridge, staring in wide-eyed terror at the Earth, as the pieces of Junius 7 went streaking over it.

Sting Oakley was near the back of the bridge, arms crossed, unimpressed. Auel Neider was not far from Sting, hands on hips as he looked down at the Earth.

Neo Roanoke drifted towards her, taking her by the shoulders. "Of course not, Stella," he said gently. "Don't worry about it."

"Stella's scared," she murmured, still staring at the Earth.

"There's nothing to be scared of, Stella," Neo said soothingly. "Why don't you go back to the chamber and rest?"

He glanced meaningfully at Sting and Auel, who nodded and came forward to gently take Stella by the shoulders. Auel led her out of the bridge, while Sting stayed behind for a moment.

"What will we do next?" he asked, glancing over at Lee. Neo looked back out at the Earth.

"We'll be entering the atmosphere soon," he answered, "so you'll have to keep Stella under control. I'm sure she'll be scared." He shrugged after that. "We'll get orders once we make contact with Washington. We _were_ successful in getting ZAFT's new mobile suits, after all."

Sting looked at the Earth himself. "They'll be pissed," he said dismissively as he left the bridge.

The doors closed, and Lee shook his head.

"I don't like taking orders and using pilots from Lord Djibril," he said, glaring pointedly at Neo.

Neo smirked back. He could tell Lee was trying to hold back a lot more emotion—they'd seen the pieces of Junius 7 going down, and quite a few of them seemed to be heading for North America. Lee was distraught, but he was too professional a soldier to let it show outright. "Do you think I do?" Neo asked quizzically. "Don't worry about it, Lee. Everything will work itself out."

"I enlisted to protect my people and my homeland, and to take orders from superior officers and the Atlantic Federation President," Lee said pointedly, "not a deranged anti-Coordinator industrialist with an agenda."

"The Atlantic Federation President was enlisted to take orders from the people," Neo countered with a shrug, "not a deranged anti-Coordinator industrialist with an agenda." He sat back, smirking. "And yet everyone is taking orders from a deranged anti-Coordinator industrialist."

Lee sighed in irritation.

"Don't worry about it," Neo repeated. "We won't be taking orders from Lord Djibril forever."

Lee glanced at him inquisitively. Neo smirked back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, over the Pacific Ocean**

"Athrun Zala."

The name felt strange, even to simply say it. Shinn Asuka sat in the locker room, still in his flight suit, staring unfeelingly at the wall opposite of him. He knew who Athrun Zala was—the famous son of the equally famous— or infamous, as it were— former Chairman of the PLANTs, Patrick Zala; the Special Forces ace; the slayer of the hated -X105 Strike; the pilot of the -X09A Justice. Even though he had defected to the Three Ships Alliance, he was still a hero among Coordinators. The righteous youth with a passionate pursuit of justice. The boy soldier of the PLANTs.

Shinn closed his eyes and saw it all again. He'd fought alongside the famous Justice, the sort of thing boys his age dreamed about back on the PLANTs.

So that was Athrun Zala.

The door opened, and Shiho Hahnenfuss entered the locker room with all the elegance of a tornado. Her helmet went sailing across the room and Shinn ducked to avoid getting a face full of metal and plastic, as Shiho rampaged towards him.

She noticed his presence at last and stared contemptuously at him.

Shinn decided not to stare back and set to work changing back into his uniform, as Shiho continued to glare at him.

"What is it?" he asked at last, glancing back at her as he pulled his overshirt on.

Shiho kept staring for a moment before she spoke.

"What happened to your head?" she asked tersely. Shinn blinked, and felt his head. He remembered his fight with the Gaia; it had scored a powerful hit that had wound up drawing blood. The blood had dried and matted his hair. Somehow, he had forgotten.

"It's nothing," he said shortly. Shiho eyed him carefully for a moment.

"You're all bloody," she said. She approached him quickly, and Shinn tensed, sensing another physical blow coming. "Weren't you wearing your helmet?"

"Yeah," Shinn answered, looking back at her cautiously. "The Gaia kicked me into a building."

Shiho studied him for a moment before she turned away and walked back towards her locker.

"Where did you go?" Shinn asked, and immediately regretted it. Shiho glared back at him.

"You don't need to know," she snapped. "Shut up and get dressed, and go file your report."

Shinn barely stopped himself from giving her the finger and finished dressing with a scowl.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The bridge was silent. All eyes were focused on the sky. Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but the only sound that came out was a strangled gasp.

The sky was dark, almost black, like a powerful rainstorm was on its way. On the _Minerva_'s main bridge screen, the bridge crew stared in disbelief at the scenes of destruction from around the world. Pieces of Junius 7 were still falling, but by now most of the damage had been done.

Gilbert sat back in his chair, gazing emotionlessly at the screen. "Pieces have hit every continent, I take it," he said quietly.

Out of the corner of her eye, Talia noticed Burt tense as footage played of a piece of Junius 7 demolishing the Vatican. She sighed and looked back out the bridge windows. The _Minerva_ was cruising in over the Pacific Ocean, aiming for Orb; they had already radioed ahead and the Orb government had decided to allow them to dock. The reports were filing in—the Prime Minister of the Eurasian Federation had died when a large piece of Junius 7 smashed into Moscow. Thousands, if not millions of people around the world were feared dead.

Talia wondered why Gilbert didn't seem to care.

"Arthur," she said quietly, "inform me when we reach the Orb coast. I'll leave the bridge to you until then."

"Y-Yes ma'am," Arthur stuttered, saluting awkwardly as she rose from her seat and left the bridge.

Gilbert slowly stood up himself and followed, smirking.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Washington DC, Atlantic Federation**

The White House, and much of the most historic and tourist-popular areas of Washington DC, had escaped damage from any impacts by Junius 7, but as Joseph Copland emerged from the underground bunker in which he had taken shelter, that hardly seemed like a blessing. While the upscale west side of Washington had escaped damage, the poverty-stricken east side of the city had not been so lucky.

Copland emerged from the dust to tour the wreckage. Armed guards stood in place at least half a mile ahead and behind him, and at his side, surrounded by military officers and soldiers, stood Lord Djibril.

Djibril was smiling.

"Look at what those monsters have done," he said, casting a sweeping gesture over the destruction. "How can you let this slide as some 'accident?' This is no accident! Those abominations in the sky meant for this to happen, and now your people are suffering for it!"

Copland almost didn't hear Djibril. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man lying in a pool of blood, struggling to move. Copland rushed over, despite the sputtered protest of his entourage and the disgusted look of disapproval from Djibril. Copland sank to his knees, trying to hold the man up. He was already dressed in rags and covered in dirt; he was one of the poor, homeless people who lived on the east side.

The man sputtered and coughed.

"Hold on, sir," Copland said shakily. "I'll send for help at once." He looked over at the soldiers as they rushed towards him, guns leveled. "Get this man a doctor!" he shouted. Two of the soldiers shouldered their rifles and knelt to pick the man up, but one of them stopped suddenly and looked solemnly at the President.

"He's already dead, Mr. President."

Copland stared down at the grimy, bloody face. Hollow, lifeless eyes stared back at him. He turned away, tears stinging his own eyes, and stood up, as one of the soldiers closed the dead man's eyes.

Djibril came up beside Copland. "Would that man have died if you had struck at the PLANTs earlier?" he asked. "Would this city have been destroyed? Would all those cities and places around the world have been destroyed if you had struck at the PLANTs earlier?"

Copland said nothing, still looking around at the destruction.

"Those monsters made this happen," Djibril continued. "The monsters we stole those new units from. The time has come to finish them off once and for all, before they can destroy the rest of us."

Copland motioned for an aide to come closer.

"Get me the Secretary of Defense," he growled. "We're going to make those bastards pay."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 5th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean**

Shinn Asuka stood on the deck of the _Minerva_, staring blankly at the horizon. Somewhere in front of the _Minerva_ was Orb, but it was in the distance, far away. Shinn liked it that way.

The ship was getting closer to Orb by the second, and it wouldn't be long before the crew was required to take what was commonly known as "docking condition," for which the mobile suit pilots were mostly unnecessary and were usually ensconced in the crew lounge to keep them out of the way. Shinn was not looking forward to that—it meant more time around Shiho, and that was _never_ good. The door behind him opened, and Shinn turned around in annoyance, wondering who was the moron who was interrupting his peace and quiet.

Shinn jumped to attention as Chairman Dullindal emerged onto the deck.

Gilbert smiled paternally before Shinn could bother trying to button up his collar.

"No need for that, Shinn," he chuckled, coming up to stand next to Shinn, leaning on the railing. "Some leaders are quite taken with the idea of having military personnel salute them. I'm not like that."

Shinn tried to relax, but that was no use in the presence of the Supreme Chairman of the PLANTs.

"So," Gilbert continued, looking at Shinn with a casual smile, "I understand you are from Orb."

"Y-Yes sir," Shinn stuttered. Gilbert looked back out at the horizon.

"We will be docking there," he continued. "Will you be alright with that?"

"I'm not the captain," Shinn said uneasily, after a moment's pause. "I'm not the one to make that decision."

"But you have the power to decide things for yourself, if for no one else," Gilbert countered with a smile. Shinn blinked. "Returning to Orb is surely uncomfortable for you. You can decide for yourself if you like the captain's decision to sail to Orb."

Shinn said nothing.

"People like you, Shinn, young people like you, are a necessity in these troubled times," Gilbert went on, looking back out at the ocean. "The world is a blurry and indecisive place. We need people like you, Shinn, who know what they want and go after it. You don't let anyone stand in your way. Destiny dealt you a bad hand in Orb, so you tried again in the PLANTs, and now look where you are."

"I didn't go there by choice," Shinn blurted out. His eyes widened a moment later, in disbelief at what he had said. "Um, I mean—"

"Of course you didn't," Gilbert continued. "If you had had a choice your family would still be alive and you would still be living in Orb, the same as you always were before. But you are a strong person, with strong convictions. You will not let the world decide your fate; you will decide your own. In this world, people must be led by those who are strong...like you."

Shinn did not respond, looking at the floor, lost in thought.

"Well," Gilbert said, standing up and turning towards the door. "We will be docking soon. I suppose we'll just have to see what happens." He smiled. "Right?"

Shinn nodded slowly, and Gilbert disappeared back inside.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Onogoro Island, United Emirates of Orb**

"Jona," spoke the quavering voice of Unato Ema Seiran, "that ZAFT ship is going to get our country burned down again."

Standing on a deck overlooking the dock, the younger Jona Roma Seiran stood with his arms crossed, watching impassively as the _Minerva_ backed into the dock. The ship's hull was pitted and scorched; it had obviously been in combat.

And, of course, there was the unmistakable logo of ZAFT on the port side of the bridge tower. Jona narrowed his eyes at the distinctive hourglass shape. It _would_ get Orb burned down again...if he played his cards wrong.

And Jona Roma Seiran was _not_ going to play his cards wrong.

"I already told you the plan," Jona said, with a touch of exasperation. "We secretly invited the _Minerva_ to dock here, as a 'gesture of goodwill' for their 'gallant service in saving countless lives from the Junius 7 catastrophe.' The Atlantic Federation comes calling, we kick the ZAFT ship out and help blow it up, and we offer to join the Earth Alliance."

"And when the Atlantic Federation asks why the _Minerva_ was here?" Unato asked dubiously. Jona smirked back.

"We say they demanded to be let in and our poor dock workers, fearing for their lives and families, had no choice but to let the barbarians dock." He snorted derisively. "With as psychotically anti-Coordinator as the Atlantic Feds are, they'd believe us if we say that giant Coordinators went loose in Aube, burning our villages, raping our women, and salting our fields."

Unato looked down at the _Minerva_. "That Dullindal character is on that ship too," he added. "You're messing with the head of a very powerful state, Jona. I have a lot at stake on this scheme of yours."

Unato turned on his heel and disappeared through an adjacent door. Jona remained behind, staring contemptuously at the _Minerva_.

_They say the Orb Raiders were at Junius 7 too,_ he thought soberly. _Maybe I'm one step closer to finding Cagalli after all._

——————————————————————————————————————————

Watching indifferently, Shiho Hahnenfuss found herself at the edge of a gangway, dressed in an unassuming civilian outfit. She was not sure what had compelled her to disembark, but the captain had permitted it of several crewmembers. Down below, Vino, Yolant, Meyrin, and Lunamaria were already piling into a jeep to take them to the capital city of Aube, across an enormous suspension bridge. Rey was nowhere to be found, though he was probably not going anywhere.

Shinn was making his way cautiously down the gangway, lost in thought. Shiho stared contemptuously at him.

"You're disembarking too?" she asked rhetorically. Shinn stopped in front of her, regarded her coldly for a moment, and nodded. "And you know the rules regarding shore leave?" Another nod.

Shiho stared at him for another moment. He refused to be put down or stared into submission. She hated it.

At last, Shiho turned and headed down the gangway into the dock.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 6th, CE 73 - Onogoro Island, United Emirates of Orb**

"We commemorate those whose lives were tragically lost here on June 15th, CE 71."

The words were hollow. They meant nothing. Shinn Asuka looked up at the towering stone pillar, surrounded in flowers and plaques. It was on a nice spot, overlooking the sea. Behind him was the rest of Onogoro Island. Rising in the sky behind him were the towering girders of the yet-incomplete Kaguya mass driver. Setting amidst those girders was the sun, casting an eerie shadow over everything.

Shinn stared blankly at the memorial. It had been erected by the Seiran family, which had, at the dedication, fiercely denounced the departed Athha family for failing in its promises to protect Orb's citizenry from the Atlantic Federation's aggression. Shinn hated them, not just the Athhas, but the Seirans as well, who lied between their teeth as they condemned the Atlantic Federation, condemning the very country at whose feet they knelt.

He ran a finger over the weight of a plastic memento of his final days on this island. He pulled the familiar pink cell phone out, flipped it open, and stared blankly at it. It had recorded messages and calls on it, voices that Shinn would never hear again. All it could do now was remind him of that day when all of the Athha family's promises went unfulfilled. They had said they would provide a place free of war...but the missiles and beams and corpses said otherwise.

Shinn turned at the sound of footsteps, and blinked in surprise. Lunamaria was striding towards him, looking around uneasily.

"Shinn," she called quietly. "I've been looking all over for you."

Shinn turned away again, back towards the memorial. "What for?" he asked crossly.

Luna came up next to him. "Yolant wanted to see if you'd come with us into the city, but I guess it's a little late for that." She looked up at the memorial. "I suppose I should've figured I'd find you here."

Shinn said nothing, staring out at the sea with a furrowed brow.

"Maybe you shouldn't have come back," Luna said uneasily.

"It doesn't matter," Shinn said abruptly. "It's not like it changes anything."

Luna looked over at him awkwardly. Shinn was antisocial and temperamental, but he was never like this. Anything to do with his deceased family, however, brought him to a state of angry, solitary pain that his friends would have liked to help alleviate, had Shinn ever let them. But he insisted on carrying this burden and suffering through this pain himself, even if his friends could help him cure it.

"Do you think they're proud?" Luna asked. Shinn blinked and cast a sidelong glance at her.

"What do you mean?" he asked back, a hint of suspicion in his voice. Luna blinked herself and struggled to explain.

"Well, um, I mean of what you're doing now," she said. When Shinn merely arched an eyebrow in further irritation and puzzlement, she shook her head. "Err, I mean, you being a ZAFT soldier." She nodded to herself; that sounded about right. "I mean, you're a ZAFT Red, you pilot an important new model, you've fought in important battles, you're on an important ship, you're protecting the Chairman of the PLANTs...would they be proud?"

Shinn looked back at the memorial, and then back out at the sea. "No," he answered at last.

Luna blinked again. So much for _that_.

"What do you mean 'no'?" she asked, at a loss.

"Exactly what I said," Shinn answered. "Dad would say I sold out Orb's ideals, Mom would be angry at me for putting myself at risk in battles, and Mayu would be scared I'd get hurt."

Luna paused. "Then why _did_ you join ZAFT?"

Shinn gave her a sidelong glance again. "Why does it matter?" he asked back.

Luna paused again, annoyed. "Because if your family wouldn't have approved, there must be a good reason why you still joined ZAFT."

Shinn looked back out at the sea.

"Because they're not here," he answered at last. Luna sighed, resigning that to be the most satisfactory answer she would get from Shinn for the time being. She looked out at the sun as it sank between the mass driver's incomplete girders.

"Yolant won't be too happy," she said casually. "He wanted to go pick up girls or something."

Shinn snorted dismissively. "He doesn't need me around to make a fool of himself."

Luna smiled. Perhaps there was hope for Shinn after all.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Onogoro Island, United Emirates of Orb**

Arthur Trine let out an exasperated sigh as he stared up at the scorched hull of the _Minerva_. Captain Gladys and Chairman Dullindal had left him here to take care of the repairs while they "dealt with" the Orb government officials that had greeted them. The miserly Chief Representative Unato Ema Seiran had given them all suspicious glares, and Arthur did not like it one bit, but as the Vice Captain, his duty was to sit here and oversee the repairs while the Chairman and the Captain "dealt with" the Orb government.

A jeep pulled up, and Arthur glanced semi-interestedly at it. He jumped to attention as Chairman Dullindal emerged, followed by two armed ZAFT soldiers.

"Chairman, sir," he greeted with stiff military formality. Gilbert smiled in his usual soothing way.  
"At ease, Vice Captain Trine," he said calmly. Arthur let his tension melt away a bit. "Captain Gladys has gone off to see our new friends at Morgenroete, so I have returned here." He looked up meaningfully at the _Minerva_. "The Orb government is planning on siding with the Atlantic Federation," he said dourly. "They didn't say so, of course. But they will. Chief Representative Seiran isn't one for angering them." Arthur blinked in surprise.

"But that means—" he began. Gilbert nodded somberly.

"It seems they learned their lesson about standing up to nations more powerful than themselves," he chuckled. "At any rate, I believe we will be leaving soon."

Arthur looked around, at a loss. Suddenly he was very thankful for the armed ZAFT soldiers surrounding the ship.

"Your expertise in fighting the Alliance's surface fleets will probably be needed," Dullindal went on, looking back at Arthur with an almost invisible smile. "I understand that you captained a _Vosgulov_-class submarine at the Casablanca Sea Battle. Captain Gladys served her tour of duty in space, and has no experience fighting the Alliance's surface forces. We will be requiring your services in that matter more than ever, Mr. Trine."

"Of course," Arthur answered, with something of a stutter.

Gilbert smiled and looked back at the _Minerva_. "Then I trust you won't let Captain Gladys down."

All attention turned to the loudspeakers an instant later as the intercom flared to life.

"Attention all dock workers," the speakers blared, "an urgent worldwide broadcast on all spectrums from the President of the Atlantic Federation."

Arthur felt his blood run cold, and Gilbert stared up angrily at the speakers.

"Everyone," the distinctive baritone of Joseph Copland intoned. "I am Joseph Copland, President of the Atlantic Federation. I address you tonight from the White House in Washington DC."

A pause. Gilbert narrowed his eyes.

"Yesterday the entire world was devastated by the impact of Junius 7, initiated by the PLANTs."

"_What?!_" Arthur exclaimed. "But we didn't—" He caught himself as he glanced back at the Chairman.

"Tonight I am announcing a state of war with the PLANTs," Copland continued. "A fleet has mobilized from our Arzachel Crater lunar base at once. PLANT has approximately three hours to surrender immediately, or face destruction. The Coordinators will face justice for their impermissible actions; I am calling upon all the nations of the Earth and space to rise up and join arms in a new Earth Alliance, and together we will wipe the treacherous Coordinators off the face of the Earth Sphere!"

Gilbert turned towards Arthur, fire in his eyes. "Get the Captain back here," he snapped, and disappeared across the gangway into the ship.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, United Emirates of Orb**

"Impossible!"

The word reverberated through the crew lounge of the _Minerva_. Every person in the room was standing with eyes glued to the lounge screen.

A ZAFT fleet, led by the supercarrier _Gondwana_, was engaging a large fleet from the Atlantic Federation outside PLANT airspace. On the screen, an orange ZAKU Phantom flashed by, shooting down an Alliance Dagger L in the process, and attacked an Alliance _Drake_-class. On another screen, a _Nazca_ buckled and exploded under fire from Alliance mobile suits.

Shinn stood staring impassively at the screen, wondering why he didn't care.

"Those bastards!" Yolant snarled from nearby, glowering at the screen. "How can they blame us for dropping Junius 7 after we just tried to _stop_ it?!"

"They're just looking to start another war!" Vino added angrily.

Meyrin cast an anxious glance at Shinn. He stood with his arms crossed, his eyes never moving from the screen. Somehow, she found it comforting.

Even Shinn's eyes widened, however, when the screen flashed white. Through the blaze, Shinn could barely pick out small cylindrical objects exploding, and a wave of colors splashing over everything.

The camera angle changed, showing a _Nazca_ with some kind of huge machine attached to it, emanating a multicolored wave of energy in front of the PLANTs. Explosions flared up in the distance, and with a sinking feeling, Shinn realized that they were nuclear missiles.

"I can't believe this!" Luna exclaimed. "They're using nuclear missiles! Those bastards! How could they?!"

Shinn watched the missiles explode, and the Alliance fleet retreat as their trump card failed. He wondered why he didn't care. He had no home on the PLANTs; his family was already dead, buried in an Orb cemetery; he wasn't fighting to protect the PLANTs or avenge those who had died in the Bloody Valentine or anything like that. All he wanted was to survive.

Why, he still didn't know.

Shinn turned on his heel and left the room. Meyrin noticed him leave, cast one more nervous glance at the lounge screen, and followed him out.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT Carpentaria Base, Australia, Oceania Union**

Kira Yamato cracked an eye open, finding mostly darkness, with a few even darker shapes scattered around his field of vision. He blinked, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and sat up.

The first thing he noticed was a distinctive draft fluttering through his room. He grunted again, started to rise and close the window, and then shook his head and sat back down. He laid back, staring up at the ceiling. Athrun was there again—the Justice's beam rifle fired again, slashed through the _Dominion_'s escape shuttle again—

"Kira, what are you doing awake?"

Kira blinked in surprise and looked over to his right. Valentine was sitting up, the covers drawn around her bare shoulders, staring with sleepy eyes at him.

"I'm sorry I woke you," he apologized awkwardly, "I just—"

Valentine cut him off with a kiss. "It's okay," she whispered. "What's wrong?"

Kira laid back down and closed his eyes. "It's nothing," he lied.

Valentine laid her head on his chest affectionately. "No," she murmured, "it's something. Now tell me."

Kira awkwardly sat up again. "It's Athrun," he admitted quietly. "He..." Kira trailed off, unwilling to finish.

"Don't worry about that, Kira," Valentine whispered in his ear, gently pushing him back down. "I know it's painful that Athrun is back in the picture, but you can't let that consume you." She narrowed her eyes as she whispered seductively in his ear. "Don't leave me alone, Kira."

Kira blushed as Valentine ran her hands suggestively over his chest. "Valentine," he started uneasily, "you know I wouldn't—"

She silenced him with another kiss. "Shh," she whispered, "don't say anything."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 7th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, United Emirates of Orb**

The ship was in a frenzy, but Meyrin had not been ordered back to her post yet. She still had time, and until someone called for her, she was going to make the most of it.

Shinn Asuka had almost made it back to his room when Meyrin caught up with him.

"Shinn!" she called out, louder than she had wanted to. She blushed as he turned around, arching an eyebrow at her. "Um..."

"What?" he asked, regarding her with a steady gaze.

"Are...are you okay?" she asked meekly, feeling like backing away but unable to make her legs work.

Shinn stared back at her, not saying anything. His mind struggled to figure out why she was so worried, but every time he thought he had the answer, it would slip out of his grasp again.

"What made you think I'm not?" he asked back, turning around to face her fully. Meyrin struggled for an answer.

"You just seem really upset lately," she said, and immediately kicked herself for it. He _always_ seemed really upset.

Shinn stared at her again, still unable to figure out what she wanted. "I'm no different now than how I always am," he said carefully.

Meyrin opened her mouth to speak, but a voice over the intercom cut her off. "Meyrin Hawke," the intercom blared, "report to the bridge at once. All hands, Condition Red has been issued. Pilots stand by in your units."

Meyrin turned and ran in the other direction, squeezing tears of disappointment out of her eyes, without saying anything. Shinn watched her go in confusion, and at last turned and made for the locker room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Orb National Defense Headquarters, Onogoro Island, United Emirates of Orb**

The Defense Headquarters was ablaze with excitement, but Jona Roma Seiran stood above it all calmly, staring intently at the screen. Through the screen, he could see the borders of Orb's territorial waters, and the detachment of the Atlantic Federation's 12th Pacific Surface Fleet waiting there, guns pointed at Onogoro, spoiling for something to shoot.

Jona would sure as hell give them something.

"The _Minerva_ has been ordered to depart," an officer reported. "They will leave at once."

"Good," Jona said with a smirk. He looked back at the Atlantic Federation fleet. "Intelligence says that fleet's got some new mobile armor. Zamzazar or something." He smiled. "I guess we'll see just how powerful it is."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	6. Phase 06: Vision of the Future

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 06 - Vision of the Future

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 7th, CE 73 - United Emirates of Orb, territorial waters**

"Captain! We're surrounded!"

Talia didn't need Arthur's panicking to let her know that the situation was grim; arrayed before the _Minerva_ was a fleet of no less than twenty warships, all bristling with mobile suits and guns pointed straight at them. Bringing up the _Minerva_'s rear was a no less friendly fleet of seven Orb ships, whose guns were there to ensure that the _Minerva_ didn't try to go back into their waters.

"Orb sure screwed us over," she growled under her breath. She cast a disdainful glance at Gilbert, sitting in his usual chair, calm as ever. He even seemed to be smirking.

Talia failed to see how he could be smirking when he was faced with quite imminent death.

"Shield the bridge," she ordered. "Prepare for anti-mobile suit, anti-air, and anti-ship combat."

"What?!" Arthur cried in panic. "Captain, are we—" He cut himself off when he remembered the Chairman was on the bridge as well.

"Do we have any other choice?!" she shot back. "We can't afford to fail. We have to fight our way through." She pressed a handful of buttons on her chair's armrest and spoke into the ship's intercom. "Attention all hands. Currently we have an Atlantic Federation fleet in front of us, and behind us, an Orb fleet is preventing us from reentering our territorial waters. We are surrounded and have no choice but to fight our way out."

She paused, looking at the Chairman. He didn't deserve this.

"For the sake of the Chairman, we will not fail," she went on, biting back a scowl. "We will fight as the proud crew of the _Minerva_."

She looked out at the enemy fleet again as she shut down the intercom, and narrowed her eyes. Once again she would have to protect the Chairman.

"Activate the Tristans and Isolde," she said, pushing away the sinking feeling in her stomach.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, going out!"

The moment the Core Splendor cleared the _Minerva_'s catapult, Shinn realized that they really _were_ screwed over.

Three carriers were cruising at the lead of a dozen other ships. Scores of mobile suits filled the sky. Behind the _Minerva_, the Orb fleet was standing ready as well, and the decks of the Orb ships were packed with Orb mobile suits, all glowering at the _Minerva_ and ensuring that no matter what happened in their battle with the Alliance fleet, they wouldn't be going back to Orb.

And, as he combined the Impulse's parts into the Force Impulse, he realized that it would just be him and Shiho against an entire fleet. He watched uneasily as Rey and Luna took off and landed on the deck, behind the _Minerva_'s Tristans. The _Minerva_ had originally been assigned to the Moon—they had never had a chance to pack any atmospheric equipment for the ZAKUs.

The Savior fell into formation behind him, and Shiho's grim face appeared on the screen.

"Shinn," she said, and Shinn frowned at the edge of hesitancy he could hear in her voice. "Lunamaria and Rey will only be able to shoot from the deck."

"I know," Shinn said tersely, hoping that was all she had to say.

"You go ahead and keep some of those Daggers away from the _Minerva_," Shiho continued, dashing Shinn's hopes. "I'll stay back here and mop up whatever you miss."

Shinn tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut that this was not a good idea. "Roger," he said through gritted teeth. The Impulse roared ahead before Shiho could say anything else.  
——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Yokosuka Naval Station, Japan, Republic of East Asia**

If the military of Republic of East Asia had to have _one_ redeeming quality about them, Ian Lee mused on the open-air deck of the _Girty Lue_, this had to be it. Yokosuka Naval Station was the finest military port Lee had ever seen, able to service multiple fleets at once. At the moment, the _Girty Lue_ had berthed in the northern sector of the sprawling port, surrounded by gleaming _Danilov_-class destroyers. Lee's ship had come to port, its mission complete. It would be leaving later that day, of course, for a new mission— but for now it was at rest, and the crew was doing its best to take advantage of this brief respite.

Lee looked down at the gangway. Down below, he could make out the figure of Neo Roanoke, saluting the figure of Lord Djibril.

Lee scowled. He hated Djibril. Djibril was the leader of Blue Cosmos—not that he wore a badge saying such, but it was plainly obvious—and he made his living by inciting Naturals to war against Coordinators, which in turn incited Coordinators against Naturals and made Lee's job more dangerous than it needed to be, for himself and his men. Lee didn't hate the Coordinators as a people—they, through ZAFT, were his enemy, and he treated them and looked upon them as such, but he didn't necessarily want to wipe out the PLANTs. He looked upon them as he would anyone else, and since they were just as actively engaged in warfare as Naturals, clearly they weren't as different as they insisted. He simply wanted the Coordinators and Naturals to leave each other alone, so there would be no reason for either side to fight one another; until then, though, he would protect his homeland and his people, and nothing more. Soldiers like him had to do their jobs, but they didn't have to like them.

People like Djibril, however, refused to let the cycle of wars end. And Lee hated him for that.

The deck door opened, and Lee turned. He immediately felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as Stella Loussier wandered out in her usual dazed fashion. She made her way up against the rail and stared out at the ocean for a moment.

"The sea...!" she exclaimed at last, giggling and looking happily at the ocean. Lee arched an eyebrow at her. She was an idiot; and so Lee had a sudden and terrible feeling as to why Neo was keeping her around.

"You like the sea?" he asked, wondering why he was trying to make conversation with her. Normally he would press her to adhere to military protocol, but that was clearly a wasted effort. Neo had enough trouble making her adhere to the practice of wearing a flight suit when she went out to fight in space.

"Huh?" She looked over at Lee with wide, innocent, thoroughly confused eyes. "Oh..." She stared blankly at Lee, and he felt somehow disturbed by the soulless look in her eyes. "Stella likes the sea..."

Lee looked back out at the ocean for himself. He had to admit, it was calming, but he had also seen it when it was distinctly _not_ calming. He figured that Stella would be terrified of the sea in a storm, but he could understand that—the only things keeping him from fearing storm-tossed waters were his steeled nerves and military discipline.

"Why do you like the sea?" he asked, in spite of himself.

"Huh?" Stella was confused again.

"Why do you like the sea?" Lee repeated, looking back at her.

Stella thought a moment, staring, lost in thought. "...because...I like it..." she exclaimed after some thought. "And...it's not scary...like the lab..."

Images of Lodonia flickered back into Lee's memory. That lab had been the place where Sting, Stella, and Auel had been made into what they were now; it had been a place Lee hoped he would never have to return to. That place was evil.

Stella looked back out at the sea, giggling, leaning over the railing and smiling. Lee watched her uneasily. Lodonia had done this to her—he saw how terrified she was when someone spoke her block word, and how vicious she could be in battle. But here she was just a little girl giggling and looking at the sea.

Lee looked down at Neo again, and struggled to keep his hatred in check.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**United Emirates of Orb, territorial waters**

The Impulse quaked as Shinn deflected a pair of beam shots with his shield, and fired his rifle back at the Dagger Ls the shots had originated from. One of the Daggers dove out of the way, but the other wasn't so lucky. An instant later, though, Shinn was back on the run as two more Daggers rained missiles down on him.

"Shit," he grunted, "these guys are everywhere!"

Diving backwards again and cutting down a missile salvo with his CIWS, Shinn risked a glance back the _Minerva_. Luna's ZAKU fired its beam cannon into the air, wiping out a pair of incoming Daggers, but a missile slammed into her ZAKU's shield and nearly knocked her off the _Minerva_'s deck.

More beam shots brought Shinn's attention back in front of him, and he raised his shield to deflect the shots and fire back. Yet another Dagger came streaking in, trying to flank him; Shinn knocked it aside with a kick to the side of the head and speared it on a beam rifle shot. He dove backwards, twisting around beam shots and shooting down two more Daggers as he moved.

"Shinn!" he heard Meyrin's voice shout. "The _Minerva_ is going to pull back as far as we can without going back into Orb's waters! Pull back with us!"

Missiles buffeted Shinn grunted again as the Impulse put itself between the _Minerva_ and another attacker. He shot down two more Daggers and dove backwards, looking past them at the enemy fleet.

"Holy shit!"

Rising up out of the lead carrier was an enormous green crab-looking mobile armor. Its two massive pink eyes flashed, and the mobile armor moved forward over the water, as the Daggers fell into formation around it.

"_Minerva_, what the hell is that thing?!" Shinn shouted, pulling back as the Daggers opened fire. Shiho dropped in beside him, firing the Savior's plasma cannons and wiping out three more Daggers.

"Forget what it is, just take it down!" she shouted.

On the bridge of the _Minerva_, Talia scowled.

"It's huge!" Arthur cried in disbelief. "Captain!"

"It would be the end if something like that latched onto us," Gilbert said dourly.

Talia looked down at Arthur. "Activate the Tannhäuser and target the enemy mobile armor!" The Tannhäuser swung out of its hatch, and began to charge.

Inside the cockpit of the Zamzazar, the blue-suited commander looked down at his two gunners.

"The _Minerva_ has activated its positron cannon," one of the gunners reported.

"Deploy the reflector," the commander ordered. He smirked at the _Minerva_; those cocky ZAFT bastards wouldn't be able to punch through _this_.

The Tannhäuser locked onto the Zamzazar. "Fire!" ordered Talia; the Tannhäuser fired with a roar.

The Zamzazar spread its shield, the Tannhäuser's shot slammed against it; sparks flew in the Zamzazar's cockpit, a pall of smoke rose over the battlefield—

And, an instant later, the Zamzazar floated before the fleet and its mobile suits, unscathed.

"What the—?!" Arthur yelped.

"It deflected the Tannhäuser," Shinn murmured in disbelief.

"Shinn!" Talia shouted. "Take that thing down! Distract it! _Something!_"

The Impulse charged at the Zamzazar, and the Savior opened fire on the surrounding Daggers, pulling back as they charged. Shinn grunted as the Zamzazar's gun turrets opened fire, and he dodged past the shots, clenching his teeth. He fired at what looked like the cockpit hatch, but the positron reflector deflected his shot harmlessly. The Zamzazar's claws flashed red and the mobile armor swiped at him; Shinn dove towards the ocean, barely dodging the claws, and the Zamzazar followed.

"Shit!" Shinn shouted. "Don't tell me I can't hit this thing!" He fired at the Zamzazar's underside, but the positron reflector blocked his shot again, and the Zamzazar dropped down towards him, claws extended. Shinn gunned the booster, blasting out from under the Zamzazar before it could trap him, and the Zamzazar responded by retracting its front two claws and firing two large energy cannons at him.

Diving up into the air, Shinn glanced back at the _Minerva_. It had taken several direct hits from the Daggers, and despite the best efforts of the two ZAKUs, the Alliance mobile suits were just too many.

The Zamzazar charged at him again, and Shinn yelped in surprise, as the Impulse dove backwards, dodging another claw swipe. The Zamzazar commander snarled in frustration as the Impulse dodged a follow-up cannon barrage.

"That damned mobile suit," he growled. "Activate the Igelstellungs! We'll stun him and swat him out of the sky!"

A blaze of CIWS fire swarmed up at the Impulse, and Shinn grunted as the bullets slammed against the Impulse's armor, knocking the mobile suit back.

"Shinn!" Shiho screamed, as the Savior rocketed out of the sky, firing its plasma cannons at the Zamzazar. The shots bounced harmlessly off the positron reflector, and the Zamzazar fired back with its energy cannons. "Shinn, goddammit, wake up! We can't—"

"Attention ZAFT ship _Minerva_," a voice bellowed out over the intercom, cutting Shiho off. "This is the 7th Territorial Patrol Squadron of the Orb National Navy. You are approaching Orb's territorial waters. In the interest of preserving our sovereignty, we will open fire on you if you continue on your present course."

On the _Minerva_'s bridge, Gilbert snorted in disgust. "We can't do anything else," he grumbled. "Captain, we can't escape, can we?"

"Not without fighting our way through someone," Talia answered. "Either way we would have to engage one of those fleets. Malik, maintain our present course."

"Those Orb bastards really are out to screw us over!" Shinn snarled, charging back at the Zamzazar and firing his beam rifle again. The shots went sailing wide as the positron reflector flashed to life again, and Shinn dove down towards the sea to dodge another claw swipe. The Zamzazar dropped after the Impulse, and Shinn spiraled back up into the sky, dodging more fire from the Zamzazar's turret cannons.

The Orb guns boomed, and towers of water rose up around the _Minerva_. Inside the Impulse, Shinn's eyes widened in shock.

"Is Orb serious?!"

The Impulse rattled, Shinn looked down, and he found the Zamzazar had clamped onto the Impulse's right leg. "Shit!" The Zamzazar hurled him down towards the sea, the Impulse's leg snapped at the knee, and Shinn screamed.

"Shinn!" Meyrin shouted on the _Minerva_'s bridge. Shiho cursed under her breath, and the Savior tried to move towards him, but the Daggers were there to stop it.

Shinn's eyes closed and the world became black.

Everything was peaceful again. He could see himself in Orb with his family, before the war, before the Impulse, before anything. He was happy.

"Shinn!" he heard Mayu's voice scream. He blinked.

"Mayu...?"

"What are you doing, Shinn?!" Mayu shouted; she sounded annoyed.

"Mayu...that's Mayu's voice..." Shinn murmured. "But...where is she?"

"You'll die at this rate!" she screamed. "Wake up! Are you just gonna let that thing beat you?!"

Shinn stared forward for an instant. "Mayu…!"

There was a seed, and an instant later, everything was clear. His eyes went dull; he activated the Impulse's booster and scowled up at the Zamzazar.

Inside the Zamzazar, the commander sneered at the Impulse as it righted itself. "You still won't die?!" he shouted. The Zamzazar angled its energy cannons and fired; Shinn saw the blasts coming and the air in front of him flashed with a white bolt of energy; the Impulse dove out of the way and skimmed along the water as the Zamzazar poured firepower into the water after it.

The Impulse burst up into the sky, firing two shots into the air to wipe out two Daggers. The remaining Daggers focused their firepower on him, and he dodged another three shots to shoot down another Dagger. The remaining Alliance mobile suits stormed towards him, breaking off to surround him, and they all opened fire solely on the Impulse. Shinn saw the blasts coming; time slowed, and the Impulse slithered out of a web of beam shots, shooting down four more Daggers as he zigzagged out of the way. The Zamzazar commander's eyes widened in disbelief as the Impulse spiraled back towards the _Minerva_, placing itself between the embattled ZAFT ship and the mobile armor.

"Commander!" Shinn shouted, as the Impulse swung back. "Cover me!"

Inside the Savior, Shiho blinked, still staring in disbelief as the Impulse moved blindingly fast.

"R-Roger!" she answered, charging in to swing in front of the Impulse, firing her weapons to hold off the attackers.

The Impulse spiraled up into the air; smoke still trailing from its damaged right leg. "Meyrin, prepare to launch the Sword Silhouette and Leg Flyer!" Shinn shouted, as he dodged more fire from the Zamzazar.

"Shinn..." Meyrin murmured in disbelief.

"Hurry!" Shinn added, as the Impulse ducked underneath an energy cannon salvo. "You can do it, right?!"

"Right!" she exclaimed stumblingly after a moment. She turned to look at Talia. "Captain..."

"Follow his instructions!" Talia ordered as the _Minerva_ quaked.

"Roger!" Meyrin answered, turning back to her console.

In the sky, the Impulse ducked underneath one claw swing from the Zamzazar and hurtled over another. The Zamzazar commander scowled.

"He's fast…!"

The Impulse darted away with blinding speed as the Zamzazar and a squadron of Daggers came in, weapons blazing. Shinn fired his beam rifle at the Zamzazar and scowled in irritation as the Zamzazar's positron reflector dissipated his shot. He twisted away from a missile salvo from the Daggers and fired back at them, taking down one of the attackers. The remaining Daggers charged; Shinn hurtled up into the air to shoot down two more and dodged another burst of beam shots. He fired one more shot at the Zamzazar, watched his shot bounce off, and sneered. He hurled his beam rifle at the Zamzazar's cockpit hatch, slamming into it and jarring the cockpit and its crew.

"Shoot him down!" the Zamzazar commander screamed as the gunners shook their heads, recollecting their wits.

The Impulse drew a beam saber and slashed through the Daggers one by one as they charged. The commander's eyes widened in disbelief. A Dagger toting a bazooka came charging at the Impulse; Shinn ducked under its shot and sliced it in half at the waist. Another Dagger opened fire, with two more lining up on either side of the Impulse; as the Daggers surrounded the Impulse and opened fire, Shinn dove through their shots effortlessly, twisting and turning around a net of beam rifle fire, and slashed another Dagger in two as it escaped the rifle blaze.

"_FIRE!_" the Zamzazar commander shrieked. The Zamzazar fired its forward energy cannons; the blasts slammed against the Impulse's shield; an instant later, the shield went spiraling away, but the Impulse was nowhere to be seen; the Zamzazar crew looked up in horror, and above them, the Impulse ignited its beam saber and dropped down upon them.

The Zamzazar crew screamed as Shinn drove his beam saber into the Zamzazar's cockpit.

The mobile armor threw smoke and sparks, and Shinn leapt up into the air. On the _Minerva_, even Gilbert stared in awed silence as the Zamzazar collapsed into the ocean and exploded.

"Launch the Silhouette!" Shinn's voice cried from Meyrin's console.

"R-Roger!" Meyrin answered.

The Sword Silhouette and the Leg Flyer took off with a flash, and Shinn discarded his damaged Leg Flyer for the new one, ejecting the Force Silhouette and replacing it with the Sword Silhouette in the process, sailing over the desperate shots of the Alliance forces down below. The Phase Shift flashed to life, and Shinn narrowed his eyes at the fleet below. A storm of missiles came streaking up towards him, but Shinn dove over them, drawing his anti-ship swords and spinning to slash apart two awestruck Daggers as he dove down towards one of the ships.

With a crash, Shinn plunged the combined sword into the bridge of a destroyer, and then swinging down to slice into the ship's missile launchers. As the destroyer was torn apart in an explosion, he took off again, hurling both beam boomerangs at another pair of Daggers as they tried to stop him. Landing again on a new ship, he smashed out the bridge and sliced off the bow, and as the ship began to sink, he took off again.

The boomerangs returned with a crash, and Shinn turned his eyes towards one of the carriers. As he fell, he hurled the boomerangs again at two other ships, and then smashed his sword into the carrier, slicing into its own missile stores, and ripping its bridge tower off. He took off again and sliced off the bridge tower of another destroyer. The headless destroyer listed into the second carrier and exploded, and the stricken carrier was knocked onto its side. Shinn dove through the air, slashing apart two more Daggers in midair, and came down onto one last destroyer. A CIWS turret aimed and opened fire on him; with a scream of rage, he slashed the ship's bridge tower out and leapt into the air.

On the _Minerva_, all eyes were glued to the Sword Impulse.

"The enemy fleet…is retreating," Burt said quietly, staring in disbelief at the devastated Alliance fleet.

"This is incredible!" Arthur exclaimed suddenly, his face lighting up in delight. "Better than Jachin Due! This is amazing, Shinn! You should get the Order of the Nebula for this!" He looked up at Gilbert in his excitement. "Right, Chairman? Shinn will get the Order of the Nebula for this, right?"

In his chair, Gilbert smiled.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Pacific Ocean**

Neo Roanoke stood on the walkway overlooking the _Girty Lue_'s hangar, with Lee and a mechanic at his side, looking down at the mobile suit beneath them.

"Windam," Neo repeated slowly. "They gave me one to play with and see how I like it?"

"It's an, uh, 'experimental combat data collection deployment,'" the mechanic answered, stumbling over the long title. "Basically, you take it for a test drive and tell them what you think."

It wasn't a bad-looking suit, though as far as mobile suits went it looked somewhat anorexic. Neo's new Windam was purple and black, with dashes of green on the cockpit hatch, the shoulders, and the legs. The mechanics were currently attaching a Jet Striker pack to its back, and the missile pods intended for its wings were stacked to the side.

"Take it for a test drive," Neo repeated, staring at the Windam's glowering face. "Lee, what was the last known position of the _Minerva_?"

"Heading west towards Carpentaria, as of half an hour ago," Lee answered. Neo looked back at the Windam with a smile.

"And Hutchinson's fleet gave them a run for their money?" he went on.

"Before that combining machine destroyed the Zamzazar and hit the fleet itself, yes," Lee said, eyeing Neo suspiciously. "Are you taking the Windam on a test flight to attack the _Minerva?_"

"Damn right I am," Neo said with a smirk. "Have the Windam ready to sortie as soon as possible."

The mechanic saluted and scurried off towards the ladder to the hangar floor, and Lee tossed a skeptical glance at Neo.

"Are you taking any of _them_ with you?" he asked. Neo shook his head, still looking at the Windam.

"What kind of experiment is it if you've got a bunch of uncontrolled variables running around?" Neo countered, smirking. "Besides, the mechanics aren't done modifying the Gaia's engines. Now then, if you'll excuse me, those guys are probably totally screwing up the thruster outputs, so I'm going to go yell at them, 'kay?" Before Lee could protest, Neo was already making his way down to the hangar floor.

Lee sighed in frustration and headed back up towards the bridge.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean, en route to Carpentaria**

Shinn Asuka lowered himself to the _Minerva_'s hangar floor to the cheers of the mechanics. He almost didn't hear them; he was still focused on that one moment, almost forgotten in the heat of battle, when everything had become clear. He had seen the enemy mobile armor fire its cannons, and time had actually _slowed_—he could see the shots streaking towards him, and his mind and hands moved to send the Impulse skimming along the water out of harm's way. For an instant he had been aware of what the mobile armor was going to do before it did it; and then he had seen himself switch to the Sword Silhouette and destroy the Alliance fleet. And now he was here.

His thoughts were interrupted when Luna burst out of the crowd, Vino and Yolant hot on her heels, and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him excitedly.

"Shinn!" she cried, grinning. "That was _amazing!_ I've never seen someone fly that well!"

Shinn sputtered for a response, but a moment later Vino pounced on him, hugging him just as excitedly and laughing.

"That was like the Freedom at Jachin Due!" Vino exclaimed enthusiastically. "Shinn, that was incredible!"

"Yeah!" Yolant agreed. "I've never seen anything like that before! You'll get the Order of the Nebula for sure!"

Out of the corner of his eye, through the mechanics eagerly mobbing him, Shinn could see Rey with his helmet in hand, staring impassively. He paused, frowning, as Rey's face did not change.

"Alright, alright!" the head mechanic's voice boomed. Matt Abes barreled through the crowd. "Leave the guy alone! Back to work! We have a Leg Flyer to fix! Move it!"

As the crowd melted away and the mechanics returned to work, Shinn opened the collar of his flight suit and walked towards Rey, while Luna chattered excitedly at him.

Luna fell silent as Shinn came up to Rey. The two stared at each other for a moment.

"What happened?" Rey asked, regarding Shinn carefully.

"I don't know," Shinn answered uncomfortably. "I saw a seed and everything was clear. It was like I could see the future or something."

Shinn frowned in confusion as he noticed Rey stiffen at the words "see the future." He studied Shinn's face for another moment and nodded slowly.

"It was a natural reaction," he explained with a small smile. "You wanted to protect the ship and defeat that mobile armor." He put a reassuring hand on Shinn's shoulder. "You performed well today, Shinn."

Rey turned and headed off towards the lockers, and Shinn let out a sigh.

Off to the side, Shiho was regarding Shinn carefully, her helmet in the crook over her arm. She approached him cautiously, still studying him. At last she held out her hand, and Shinn blinked in surprise a moment before he shook it.

"You did well today," Shiho said, sounding distinctly uncomfortable. "I haven't seen piloting like that since Jachin Due."

Shinn blinked again. "Um, thanks," he sputtered.

Shiho turned to leave. "Keep fighting like that and this war will be over in no time," she said, more to herself than him, as she headed towards the locker.

"So, um, what _did_ happen anyways?" Luna asked uneasily. "I mean, did you have some kinda epiphany or what?"

"I don't know," Shinn said quietly, watching Shiho as she disappeared. "I saw a seed burst...and...I heard my sister."

"What?" Luna asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"She asked me if I was just going to let that thing beat me," he murmured, forgetting about Lunamaria as he was lost in thought. That one moment, everything had become clear; but what did it mean?

Shinn sighed tiredly. "I'm going to go file my report and take a nap," he said wearily, walking towards the lockers himself.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Pacific Ocean**

Neo Roanoke expertly held his emotions in check; he knew Sting and Auel would think he was stupid to be going out on his own. But he hadn't counted on them following him down to the Windam's hatch just to keep laughing at him.

"Man, are you sure we can't come with you?" Auel asked. "It's not every day we get to see your complete and utter humiliation!"

Ignoring Auel, Sting stepped in front. "Are you seriously sure you don't want us along?" he asked soberly, while Auel continued to snicker helplessly.

"The _Girty Lue_ will stay far enough way not to influence the battle directly, but close enough to launch mobile suits should the need arise," Neo explained. "The closer the ship comes to the _Minerva_, the tougher a fight it will be and the less of a test it will be."

"But who will pick you up when you get shot down?" Auel laughed. "Are you gonna swim back or what?"

Neo glanced back at him. "My my, Auel," he shot back. "What are you now, my _mother_?"

Auel's eyes flashed in horror as his face went pale, and he backed away, his eyes wide.

"M-mother..." he murmured.

Sting glared at Neo. "That wasn't—"

"Get him out of here," Neo said quickly, turning to climb into the Windam's cockpit. "You go get him calmed down."

"My mother is dead!" Auel screamed, clutching his face, staring in horror at Neo. "My mother...!"

"Shit," Sting growled, as the mechanics came running. "Neo..."

"I told you," Neo snapped. "Get his ass out of here and back into the pod. Or I'll use your word on you too, Sting."

Sting glared at Neo for another moment before he grabbed Auel by the shoulders and started to pull him away.

Neo snorted in disgust and closed the Windam's hatch.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean**

Shinn Asuka emerged onto the deck of the _Minerva_ with a sigh, relishing the cool evening breeze of the ocean. The sky was still dark and cloudy from the impacts of Junius 7, and would be for some time, but the breeze was still cool and refreshing, and Shinn appreciated it after a long day.

His thoughts turned towards the battle, and his moment of apparent precognition. The feeling chilled him to the bone, not least of all because he couldn't understand it.

Shinn blinked in surprise as he saw Gilbert Dullindal approach out of the corner of his eye. He jumped to attention again, but once again, Gilbert smiled disarmingly before Shinn could say anything.

"Well, Shinn," he said, "I didn't expect to find you out here." He leaned against the railing, looking out at the ocean again. "You certainly put on a show for us at Orb."

"Um, thank you, sir," Shinn stuttered. "I mean, I was just doing my job."

"But you did it exceptionally well," Gilbert said. "You will more than likely be awarded the Order of the Nebula. Your piloting in that battle was superb."

The Supreme Chairman of the PLANTs was throwing laurels at Shinn's feet; he didn't know what to say.

"Fighting like that is what will make the world," Gilbert went on. "There is no doubt that in this world, the power to fight and protect that which you care about is necessary. That is why we built the Impulse, and that is why we gave it to you."

Shinn looked out at the ocean sheepishly. He had been lucky in that regard.

"I'm sure you're wondering why," Gilbert said, trailing off and glancing at Shinn with a smile.

"...um, yes sir," Shinn answered at last. Gilbert's smile grew as he spoke again.

"Of course you are," he chuckled. "You were frequently at odds with your instructors and often involved in fights with your classmates. But I reviewed your transcript and reports, and realized that for all your butting heads with authority, you are a strong person with powerful convictions, and you will not let anyone but yourself decide your fate. You passionately protect that which is important to you, and your piloting skills are outstanding as well. The Impulse was always intended for someone who would not let his fate be decided for him; it was always meant for someone special."

"You're saying I'm special, sir?" Shinn asked carefully.

Gilbert smiled paternally. "Of course," he answered. "You singlehandedly took on the attackers at Armory 1, and followed them out and pursued them at your own discretion. You managed to save one of our ZAKUs in that debacle in the Debris Belt and protected the _Minerva_ itself in the process. You helped defend the troops breaking up Junius 7 and helped ensure that the damage done to Earth would not be completely permanent. And just now in Orb, you demonstrated piloting skills clearly superior to any others; without a doubt, you are an extraordinary human being, Shinn."

Shinn looked back cautiously at Gilbert, unable to figure out just what the Chairman was saying. "Extraordinary human being?" he repeated. "Me?"

"Yes, you," Gilbert said, turning to face Shinn. "Or are you unacquainted with the concept of that extraordinary human being?"

Shinn shook his head, and Gilbert smiled.

"I thought as much," he said. "Education is less concerned with the fundamental principles and more with the numbers and facts and figures anyways." He took hold of the railing and looked out at the ocean. "Do you know of George Glenn?"

"Yes sir," Shinn responded.

"George Glenn released the information concerning his birth as he left for Jupiter," Gilbert explained, still with his casual smile. "He told the world that humanity was evolving, but in order to bridge the gap between the evolved human and the current one, he proposed that the genetic engineering that created him be applied to all humans, and he called those people Coordinators. But as we all know, things went wrong, the Coordinators were forced up into the PLANTs, and we have the situation we have now.

"However, in the uproar over Coordinators, people have forgotten what they were made for," Gilbert continued, looking over at Shinn. Shinn felt uncomfortable as he saw a strange gleam in the Chairman's eyes. "George Glenn spoke of a new kind of human evolving, a human who would be adapted to a life in space. What went unpublished were the details of his theory. He said these new evolved humans would have enhanced perception and mental powers to communicate in the voids of space, and suggested that such evolved people are already starting to come about. I find that entirely plausible...don't you?"

"I guess so," Shinn agreed hesitantly.

"George Glenn never came up with a name for this new evolution of mankind," Gilbert said, looking out at the ocean again. "I call them 'Newtypes.' People with advanced powers of perception...the ability to feel the emotions of others...and the power to see the future."

Shinn blinked in surprise. Newtypes could see the future? He couldn't mean...

"Shinn," Gilbert said, looking back at Shinn. "I told you I saw you as someone special."

"What are you saying, sir?" Shinn asked cautiously.

Gilbert smiled.

"Shinn," he said, "what I'm saying is that you are a Newtype."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	7. Phase 07: The New Human

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 07 - The New Human

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 7th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean, en route to Carpentaria**

"Me?" Shinn asked in disbelief. "A Newtype? Chairman, I can't—"

"Oh, but you are," Gilbert cut him off. "Your Newtype abilities are undeveloped so far, but in time they will grow and you will be truly powerful. Surely you can't deny that something special happened to you when you destroyed that mobile armor at Orb and protected the ship."

"Well, no," Shinn sputtered helplessly, "but that doesn't make me special or anything. I just wanted to protect the ship."

Gilbert smiled. "You're modest, Shinn," he chuckled. He turned to leave. "Nonetheless, you are one of the Newtypes George Glenn foresaw. Perhaps in time you'll believe me."

Gilbert walked away, and Shinn watched him go, feeling helpless.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Pacific Ocean**

The cockpit of the Windam was quiet for a moment. Neo Roanoke looked down quizzically at his screen. It was odd of Rau Le Creuset to let an awkward silence reign.

"Dullindal is aboard the _Minerva_," Rau said at last. "Don't sink the ship. Dullindal can't go down; he's crucial to our plans."

"Talk about a conflict of interest," Neo said with a smirk. "I've been ordered to take this mobile suit on a test run and try to sink the _Minerva_ and everything."

Rau sat back in the chair he was sitting in. "That _is_ a problem," he said. "Well, don't sink the ship. I'm sure you can find an excuse as to why you couldn't do it."

"Yeah," Neo agreed, "but ZAFT is getting pretty powerful. Those ZAKUs of theirs are tough mobile suits; I'd say these Windams would be good enough to level the playing field a bit."

"We'll see," Rau said skeptically. "Nonetheless, as much of a wild card as he may be, Dullindal is what's keeping me above the law in ZAFT. Don't kill him."

Neo smirked. "Okay, fine, consider your ass covered." His smirk disappeared. "But, you do know that Djibril and Dullindal aren't onboard this whole venture anymore, right? I'm certain Djibril doesn't care much about our plans anymore."

"Of course I know that," Rau said quietly. Neo frowned; Rau seemed annoyed that Neo had brought it up. "Dullindal has his own plans concerning Newtypes, and Djibril wants to wipe out the Coordinators like any good Blue Cosmos leader does. They're only going on with us because that makes guessing at each other's next moves easier."

"So what are you going to do about them?" Neo asked. Rau smiled back.

"Our purpose is to bring humanity to the fork in the road where it must choose between life and death," he said. "People like Djibril and Dullindal will fight each other ceaselessly until we all reach that point—and then we will see just what humanity wants to do."

"Sounds like their rivalry plays directly into our hands," Neo observed, sitting back and smiling himself.

"Just make sure Dullindal survives this," Rau said. "He's key to our plans."

"Okay, fine, let Dullindal live," Neo chuckled.

Rau's face disappeared, and Neo sat back, smirking at the horizon.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean, en route to Carpentaria**

The _Minerva_ was still abuzz with the excited talk of Shinn's performance at Orb. The man of the hour himself, however, had slipped away out of sight, but that wasn't stopping anyone from throwing laurels at his feet. But no one, it seemed, had thought to seek him out.

Now that she was finally off duty, Meyrin intended to do just that.

Shinn Asuka, in retrospect, was remarkably easy to find. All Meyrin had to do was follow the Chairman—a move she found particularly unwise, but if he knew she was following him, he didn't say anything. Sure enough, he led her right to Shinn...but she hung back, hiding out of sight, while the Chairman talked with Shinn about something called "Newtypes." Throughout their conversation, Meyrin found herself profoundly disturbed—the Chairman said Shinn was some kind of precognitive superman, and Meyrin wasn't sure what to make of that.

The Chairman disappeared, and Meyrin watched Shinn carefully. He seemed perturbed by the Chairman's words, staring at the sea uncomfortably. Meyrin finally worked up the courage to step out of the shadows and talk to him.

Shinn glanced in surprise at her as she emerged. "You were listening to us?"

"N-No," she answered quickly, shaking her head, "I just—"

"Well, whatever," Shinn grunted. "Everyone says I'm special now anyways."

"Do you not want to be?" Meyrin asked meekly. Shinn closed his eyes, looking annoyed.

"I just wanted to protect the ship," he grumbled. "And I didn't want to die. And now everyone's throwing around the Order of the Nebula and FAITH and all that crap, and all I wanted was to protect the ship." He sighed. "It's just so overblown."

Meyrin looked away. "Well..." she began," ...you...did protect the ship."

Shinn opened his eyes and arched an eyebrow at her.

"But," she continued, pausing as she searched for words. "You...were so frightening."

"Frightening?" he echoed.

"You threw yourself at that mobile armor!" Meyrin exclaimed. "It's like you didn't care if you died! And..." She caught herself, blushing, and Shinn blinked.

"I had to take it out at close range," Shinn said, his brow furrowing. "It was deflecting all my shots."

"That's not what I mean," Meyrin murmured. "But I was just afraid that..." She trailed off again.

Shinn looked out at the sea awkwardly. "I wasn't going to let that thing beat me," he said. "Otherwise it would have destroyed the _Minerva_."

"Just...don't...overdo it," Meyrin whispered, looking down at the floor. He looked back at her. "I mean...you're a great pilot and all, but...sometimes..."

"Sometimes what?" Shinn asked, turning around to face her.

Meyrin sighed in defeat; there was no going back now. "Sometimes I get the feeling you don't care if you die," she murmured. "And...I wouldn't want you to do that."

Shinn watched her carefully, trying to figure out what she was trying to say.

"I don't want to die," he said at last. "I just wanted to protect the ship."

"Just the ship?" she asked, and then blinked in surprise at what she had said.

Shinn arched an eyebrow at her. "And all the people on it...?" He failed to notice Meyrin's look of disappointment.

"Just be careful," she whispered, turning and disappearing inside.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"He's stronger than expected," Gilbert said with a smile. "He may be even stronger than you, Rey."

Standing at attention in Gilbert's quarters, Rey received Gilbert's remark without any response.

"Of course," Gilbert went on, "that makes you even more important. Once we reach Carpentaria, I'll return to the PLANTs, and you will have to be the one to guide him along and nurture his powers. Commander Hahnenfuss won't be able to do that."

"Something must be done about her, though," Rey put in. "I believe she is stifling Shinn and preventing him from realizing his true Newtype prowess."

Gilbert arched an eyebrow. "How so?"

"They are extremely antagonistic," Rey explained. "Commander Hahnenfuss regards Shinn as an undisciplined loose cannon, and Shinn regards Commander Hahnenfuss as an overbearing superior. The Commander has an obsession with former ZAFT pilot Yzak Jule, which may be useful in the future should it prove necessary to remove her from the _Minerva_'s operations."

Gilbert frowned in thought. "The press back on PLANT is already churning out images of the _Minerva_'s crew," he said. "Breaking up the media darling crew of the media darling battleship is probably unwise. The news of Shinn's accomplishments at Orb is already all over the PLANTs. Once we reach Carpentaria, they'll probably demand a press conference out of him, and he'll turn into a media celebrity. They're already thinking of nicknames for him." He looked back at Rey, eyebrow arched again. "How does 'Orb Marauder' sound to you?"

"Shinn would hate it," Rey put in bluntly.

"Well, since Athrun Zala's disappearance, the people of PLANT have been looking for a new boy hero. We may have found ourselves a replacement for Athrun," Gilbert said. He looked quizzically at Rey.

"Shinn is not Athrun," Rey said back, just as bluntly as before. "Shinn cannot be the patriotic poster boy that Athrun was."

Gilbert smirked. "Of course not," he chuckled. "Nonetheless, it always helps to have a hero for the people to look up to in war."

"Shinn is not it," Rey stated unswervingly. "He would hate the role and it would drive him away."

Gilbert eyed Rey carefully. "Would he," he said quietly to himself. "Nonetheless," he continued, loud enough for Rey to hear, "I believe I have found good reason to start the Destiny Mobile Weapon project."

Rey's inquisitive silence prompted Gilbert to continue.

"Four new mobile suits in the Gundam style," he explained with a smile. "The previous three of which would culminate into the ultimate weapon, the Destiny...and we'll give it to Shinn." He arched an eyebrow. "Not that you're going to lose out or anything. Commander Le Creuset is slated for the Legend; you'll get his Providence."

Rey said nothing.

"Responsibility for bringing along Shinn's Newtype powers lies with you," Gilbert said conclusively. "You will have whatever means necessary available to you to accomplish this goal." He narrowed his eyes at Rey. "Don't fail me."

Rey saluted. "Yes sir."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Pacific Ocean**

Neo smiled at the _Minerva_ as it sailed along in the night. It was a fine vessel with a strong crew; and it was such a shame he wouldn't get to sink that fine vessel and strong crew. However, Rau had only said not to sink the _Minerva_—he didn't say Neo couldn't rough it up a bit more.

Arming the Jet Striker's missile pods, Neo resolved to do just that.

Up ahead, he could see a red Gundam and a blue and white Gundam coming towards him. A red ZAKU Warrior and a white ZAKU Phantom landed on the _Minerva_'s deck, behind the two beam cannons—Neo aimed for the red Gundam first. The reports indicated that the blue and white Gundam was the one that had taken out the Zamzazar at Orb. He would have to pay particular attention to it, and the easiest way to do that was to get the red Gundam out of the picture.

Inside the Force Impulse, Shinn squinted at the approaching mobile suit; it hadn't even left the pilots time to climb into their flight suits. The mobile suit looked like an Earth Alliance model, but he had never seen it before.

"This isn't an ordinary Dagger," Shiho muttered in frustration. "Be careful, Shinn."

Shinn glanced over his shoulder at the _Minerva_. He felt a strange pressure from the approaching enemy; he remembered Gilbert's remarks about Newtypes.

Shaking his head, he returned his attention to his enemy. He could worry about Gilbert and what he had said later.

In the Windam, Neo watched the Impulse with interest. There was pressure coming from its pilot; this fight had just become a bit more interesting.

Without warning, the Windam charged, firing its beam rifle. The Savior transformed and rocketed into the air, firing its weapons from above at the Windam. Shiho and Shinn watched in surprise as the Windam dodged the Savior's salvo with practiced ease; this was definitely no ordinary Dagger.

"Get behind it!" Shiho yelled. "I'll keep him occupied!"

The Savior transformed again and fired its beam rifle down at the Windam; smirking, Neo almost casually turned aside, letting the shot sail by and firing one of his own. Shinn tried to flank the Windam, but Neo fired another beam shot to force the Impulse back in front of the Windam. Shinn grunted in annoyance, deflecting the shots with the Impulse's shield. Overhead, the Savior transformed back into mobile armor mode and fired again.

"Not bad, combiner," Neo remarked, as the Windam pulled back under fire from the Savior. "As for you, Big Red..."

The Windam fired a stream of missiles from its micromissile pods, and Shiho fired the Savior's CIWS, cutting the missiles down; the Windam darted up over the smoke and fired its beam rifle, blazing past the Savior's engines, and with a burst of smoke, the Savior's engines gave out.

"What the—?!" The Savior rocked as the engines died, and Shiho snarled a curse under her breath. "Shinn, you're on your own! He just totaled my engine!" The Savior staggered back through the air, towards the _Minerva_, and Shinn glared at the Windam.

"Dammit," he growled, positioning himself between the _Minerva_ and the Windam. "Just what I need."

Neo smiled victoriously. "Just you and me, combiner," he said, eyeing the Impulse carefully. Shinn glowered back at the Windam, trying to think—he doubted he could lure it into the range of the _Minerva_'s guns, and even if he did, the _Minerva_ was in no shape to be fighting.

Before he could come up with another solution, the Windam charged again, beam rifle blazing. Shinn grunted as the shots slammed against the Impulse's shield; he looked up, and a flash of recognition blazed through his mind, a white bolt cutting through the air. Shinn saw an opening, abandoned his rifle for the beam saber, and charged. Neo clenched his teeth in surprise as the Impulse stormed into his face.

With a shriek of torn metal, Shinn slashed the Windam's beam rifle in half with a downward hack. Neo growled a curse and flung the sparking remains at the Impulse; Shinn smacked them aside effortlessly with his shield. The Windam backed away, drawing its beam saber, and Neo scowled at his opponent.

"Not bad at all," he remarked, scrutinizing the Impulse. The reports had said that it could replace damaged parts with new ones launched from the ship—there had to be a weakness he could exploit.

Neo charged at the Impulse. It may have had Phase Shift, but even Phase Shift would have a hard time standing up to a point-blank missile bombardment. The Windam fired the rest of its micromissiles as it stormed forward, slamming head-on against the Impulse.

Inside the Impulse, Shinn grunted as the Impulse shook. His eyes widened as he felt something; he snapped his attention back up, and for a moment, he saw the Windam charge towards him, beam saber pulled back for a killing slash; he raised his own saber—

The smoke burst apart, and Neo's eyes widened in disbelief as he found the Impulse and Windam's beam sabers clashed.

"What the—?!" Neo shouted. "How the hell did you see _that_ coming?!"

Shinn fired up the Impulse's booster, pushing back against the Windam and forcing it back. He charged again, letting out a yell; Neo stared at the Impulse, stunned at the pressure coming from its pilot; he returned to reality as the Impulse approached, and slashed back at the charging mobile suit. The Impulse caught the blow with its shield, thrust its arm upwards, and pushed the Windam's arm skyward. Neo's eyes widened in disbelief—Shinn screamed—

The Windam shuddered as Shinn severed the Windam's arm at the elbow. The arm went sailing away, and Shinn pushed the Windam back with a disorienting kick to the chest.

Neo shook his head furiously and released the Windam's combat flares, bathing the ocean in light. Shinn squeezed his eyes shut and pulled back, and the Windam quickly turned and took off in the opposite direction.

Inside the Windam's cockpit, Neo glowered back at the Impulse. That pilot was powerful; _too_ powerful.

He keyed open the secret frequency to the _Deliverance_. Rau would want to hear about _this_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean, en route to Carpentaria**

The Impulse had already set down, and Shinn had filed his report and gone off for some much-needed sleep. However, even past midnight, Talia Gladys could not sleep yet...and that was why she had Gilbert Dullindal sitting before her in her office.

Of course, Gilbert would have never acquiesced to sitting before Talia like a chastised schoolboy, so to satiate the Chairman's ego, she had been required to drag two chairs out into the middle of the room. However, she had taken care to position herself between Gilbert and the door—he would _have_ to answer her that way, or go through her to get out.

Gilbert, as a result, looked supremely annoyed.

"What are you doing to Shinn?" Talia said bluntly, glowering at him. Gilbert smiled in spite of himself.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You're doing to him what you did to Rey," Talia snapped. "The only difference this time is that I'm around to stop you."

Gilbert arched an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "Since when were you so concerned with Shinn?" he inquired with a chuckle.

"Since he became my responsibility," Talia shot back, determined to wipe the smile off Gilbert's face. "You ruined Rey, but I won't let you do the same to Shinn."

"I'm not ruining Shinn," Gilbert huffed. "I'm bringing out his potential."

"That's a lie," Talia spat. "You 'brought out Rey's potential' and now look at him. He's a soulless attack dog. You robbed him of a childhood and turned him into a Newtype soldier."

"He's not a soulless attack dog," Gilbert shot back. "Please, Talia, look at the poor boy before you slander me. Rey is simply doing what he thinks is right."

Talia glared at Gilbert. "Do you _really_ expect me to believe that?! You've brainwashed him! He follows you like a puppy, salutes when you want him to, agrees with everything that comes out of your mouth, obeys your every command without even a hint of hesitation or thought! You took him away from me when he was eight years old, you disappeared with him, and now look at him! I don't care how much Newtype potential you think Shinn has! Shinn has enough problems, he doesn't need you to give him more!"

"And bringing out his potential as a Newtype is what will cure those problems," Gilbert replied.

"If making him even _more_ perceptive to other people's emotions is what being a Newtype means," Talia said through clenched teeth, "then that's just going to make him even _more_ miserable. Surely even you can come to that conclusion."

"Perception to emotions is not what is important, Talia," Gilbert said, glaring back. "Shinn wants power. Newtype abilities are the power he seeks. With them, he will be an unrivaled mobile suit pilot, and ZAFT will develop for him weapons that will make full use of his abilities."

Talia scowled at Gilbert. There was no talking to him.

"You have no right to do to Shinn what you did to Rey," Talia snapped.

Gilbert smiled back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 8th, CE 73 - ZAFT Carpentaria Base, Australia, Oceania Union**

"So that's the _Minerva_."

On a walkway overlooking the harbor, Kira Yamato stared down at the _Minerva_ as it slowly backed into the dock. At his side, Rau Le Creuset stood with crossed arms.

"It seems they've been through a bit of a scuffle since we last saw them," Rau observed, looking over the pitted and scorched hull.

"That's the ship with the Impulse," Kira said slowly, staring at the _Minerva_, lost in thought. "It showed up at Junius 7...it stopped me from taking out Athrun."

Rau regarded Kira carefully as he stared at the _Minerva_, his hands gripping the railing.

"You'll have many more chances to fight Athrun," Rau said calmly. "Right now our priorities lie elsewhere."

The dock vibrated as the _Minerva_ finally slid into place.

"I know," Kira said quietly, not taking his eyes off the ship, "but I don't want to have to keep trying to do it. I just want to get it over with."

Rau returned his attention to the _Minerva_. "Athrun won't let us go about our mission in peace," he reminded Kira. "He will try to stop us. You must be there when he does."

Kira stiffened. "Yes sir."

Rau smiled. "You've trained hard to defeat him, Kira," he said. "Be patient. Victory will be yours."

Kira glowered down at the _Minerva_. "Yes sir."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn hated waking up.

Granted, waking up was never an easy thing for him, but after fighting with a strange Alliance mobile suit, his adrenaline was still pumping and he hadn't been able to fall asleep. His tossing and turning had annoyed Rey so much that the taller blond-haired boy had jumped up, rummaged around in the medicine cabinet for a moment, and thrown Shinn back, forced open his mouth, and dumped a sleeping pill and a glassful of water down his throat.

Of course, after ten minutes of sputtering and coughing and swearing at Rey, Shinn _did_ get to sleep.

Not that it mattered; three hours later, Rey had doused Shinn with another glass of considerably colder water and pulled him out of bed, and when Shinn—once again sputtering and coughing and swearing—demanded an explanation for why Rey was dragging him up before the sun, Rey's quick explanation left Shinn more confused than ever.

A few minutes later, under the unforgiving icy spray of the showerhead, Shinn realized that Rey had dragged him up for a press conference at Carpentaria. Shinn decided that he thoroughly hated that idea, but an hour later he had been all dressed up in a clean, pressed, fresh-from-the-dryer uniform and was ushered in front of the dazzling flashbulbs of the media.

"He's toast," Lunamaria had commented dismally from well out of the media's earshot.

The press conference had gone about as well as could have been expected; Shinn droned out some nervous-sounding answers to the insistent and probing questions of the reporters, and the only difference Luna noticed was that Shinn was desperately trying to downplay the battle at Orb, insisting that his bout of mobile suit combat prowess had really _not_ been as spectacular as people claimed it was. The morass of questions gave way to the pomp and ceremony of several important ZAFT officials, whose names Shinn couldn't remember and didn't care enough to try, awarding him the Order of the Nebula, as everyone had predicted; and, also as predicted, another wave of flashbulbs nearly blinded him.

As Shinn finally escaped the voracity of the press, he undid his collar with a sigh and rubbed his blurry eyes, and vanished before anyone else could talk to him. Luna didn't blame him; after being asked fairly personal questions about his relationship with his crewmates, Shinn probably had no inclination to talk to _anyone_ for a while.

As a result, Shinn Asuka was happily lost among all the mobile suit hangars and warehouses. He wandered around a corner, still looking up at a GINN that had been halfway dismantled, when he heard voices around the next corner. He stopped, his curiosity piqued.

"We will probably be sent to Cyprus," a female voice said, "to assist the Muslim League forces there."

"Athrun wouldn't be there," another voice, that of an older man, added. "The Orb Raiders are primarily concerned with what happens to Orb, and the events in Cyprus do not have any bearing on Orb." Shinn's eyes narrowed at the next voice he heard.

"If he is, I'll finish him off," the third voice said. The speakers rounded a corner, and Shinn's eyes widened.

Kira Yamato was still looking back at his companions. "The Freedom is superior to the Justice," he added. "I'll win for sure—"

Anything else Kira was going to say was cut off when Shinn lunged at him and punched him across the face, sending Kira stumbling back with a trail of blood trickling out of his mouth. The woman was at his side in a heartbeat, helping back to his feet as he wiped the blood from his jaw.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" she shouted at Shinn. "You just attacked a member of FAITH!"

"He's the Freedom's pilot!" Shinn snarled, clenching his fists and crouching combatively. "He killed my family at Orb!"

Kira blinked in surprise. "I...I killed your family?"

"You bastard!" Shinn screamed, lunging again. Rau Le Creuset stepped in to stop him, as Kira backed away, his eyes widening.

"...at Orb?" he murmured. "But...but I was wrong...back then..."

"Valentine, take Kira away," Rau instructed quietly. Valentine quickly took Kira by his shoulders and led him off, and Rau looked back at Shinn. "So...he killed your family at Orb, during the fighting?"

Shinn glowered at Rau, saying nothing. Rau smiled back.

"You need not worry about him doing anything like that anymore," Rau said. "Like he said, he was wrong back then."

"I won't forgive him," Shinn snapped, as Rau turned to leave.

"Go ahead," Rau said back over his shoulder. "Don't forgive him. It's none of my concern."

Rau disappeared around the corner Valentine had taken Kira around, and Shinn glared after him.

Memories of his family lying dead in the dirt on Onogoro flashed through his mind. Tears filled Shinn's eyes as he turned and ran away.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Heaving a sigh, Arthur looked over the orders one last time. The PLANTs' most powerful terrestrial ally, the Muslim League, had long been at odds with the neighboring Eurasian Federation, but now that the Earth Alliance had declared war on the PLANTs, PLANT's allies on Earth were jeopardized. Separatists within the Muslim League had assisted the Earth Alliance in seizing the all-important Suez Canal, freezing reinforcements to the embattled island of Cyprus and forcing the Muslim League to move reinforcements and supplies through the volatile region of Palestine, where the Israeli Separatists had declared open season on the convoys. The _Minerva_, as Arthur had feared and Talia had predicted, was being sent with a squadron of _Vosgulov_ submarines to assist the Muslim League.

On one side, the Separatists were screaming for the infidels to be cleared out of Jerusalem. On the other side, the Muslim League was screaming for the infidels to be cleared out of Jerusalem. The only difference between the two was that they didn't agree on who the infidels were.

There was far too much religion involved in it all for Arthur's liking.

The bridge doors opened, and Arthur jumped to attention, promptly saluting as Talia stepped through.

Talia saluted back, looking tired. "How are the repairs to the ship coming?" she asked.

"They're about 20 complete, ma'am," Arthur answered quickly. "Repairs to the Impulse and Savior are almost complete as well, and there are two Guul support systems scheduled to be loaded tomorrow morning."

Talia dropped into the captain's chair with a sigh. "Good," she said, "it's about time we got some atmospheric equipment for the ZAKUs. Is the Chairman heading back to the PLANTs?"

"Yes ma'am," Arthur answered. "But..."

Talia arched an eyebrow at him. "But what?"

"N-Nothing," he said, waving his hands apologetically in front of him. Talia regarded him quizzically for a moment and then shook her head.

"The Chairman's been a liability ever since he got on at Armory 1," she said with a sigh, rubbing her temples irritably. "I don't like having to run a ship with him in the back of my mind."

Arthur nodded in understanding. "Shinn was awarded the Order of the Nebula," he said cheerily. "It's a good thing, too. He deserves it."

"So I saw," Talia said, sitting back, with a hint of a smile on her face. "He's not very photogenic."

"But he's an excellent pilot!" Arthur protested. "And he deserves to be awarded ZAFT's highest honor for what he's done!"

"By all means, he deserves it," Talia said, eyeing Arthur carefully. "I just think the Chairman is..." She trailed off, searching for words. "Pushing Shinn into roles he isn't meant for."

"Right," Arthur said uneasily. Talia sighed and stood up.

"Our orders are to move out as soon as possible, so get the repairs done as quickly as you can." Arthur saluted, and Talia left the bridge.

Arthur sighed and looked back down at the dock.

——————————————————————————————————————————

In retrospect, Rey fervently wished he knew what he had been thinking when he had agreed to accompany Lunamaria, Meyrin, Yolant, and Vino off the ship and into the area of the base reserved for officers and off-duty personnel. But whatever it was he'd been thinking, he was kicking himself now for it.

Unable to escape for the moment, Rey contented himself with scrutinizing his companions' every move. Luna, Yolant, and Vino were their usual energetic, friendly selves, but Meyrin was unusually withdrawn, and Rey could not figure out why. She seemed to have something else on her mind, but whenever her sister prodded her about it, she would always answer with an uninformative "nothing."

As they passed a balcony, something caught Meyrin's interest, and she silently stepped away, noticed only by Rey. He eyed her carefully and ducked behind a nearby pillar, stealthily escaping the notice of Luna, Yolant, and Vino as they chattered on about something Rey hadn't deemed worth listening to.

Shinn was sitting on the balcony, leaning over the railing, his shoulders quivering. He seemed to be the only one there; Meyrin was watching him uneasily, as if trying to decide if she should go talk to him. At last she turned and hurried off in the opposite direction; Rey watched her disappear around a corner and returned his attention to Shinn.

An ordinary ZAFT soldier would be so ecstatic he wouldn't know what to do with himself upon winning the Order of the Nebula...but Shinn was no ordinary ZAFT soldier. Unfortunately, even with that knowledge, it still didn't make sense to Rey why Shinn would be out on the balcony crying.

Opening the sliding glass door separating them, Rey resolved to find out.

Shinn spun around, staring at Rey with wide, bloodshot eyes and a tear-streaked face. Rey was taken aback for a moment at Shinn's appearance, but shook it off a moment later.

"What are you doing out here, Shinn?" he asked quietly, scrutinizing Shinn's desolate face. Shinn stared back.

Rey winced; Shinn was a ball of emotional turmoil, throwing Rey's own senses into a frenzy.

"I met the Freedom's pilot," he said at last, his voice quavering. Rey nodded soberly. "He...he..."

Shinn collapsed to his knees, staring at the floor, his eyes wide and angry. Rey knelt in front of him, watching him carefully.

"Dammit!" Shinn growled. "He's in FAITH and everything!" He pounded the ground angrily with his fists. "It's like I'm the only one who remembers all the _bad_ things he's done!"

"Shinn," Rey spoke, calmly and firmly. He put his hands on Shinn's shoulders, and Shinn looked back up at him. "Do you know anything about the background of Kira Yamato?"

Shinn shook his head.

"Kira Yamato was born in secret as the culmination of Dr. Ulen Hibiki's work to create a perfect, ultimate Coordinator who was born with exactly the same traits that had been planned," Rey explained. His eyes narrowed. "Along the way there were dozens of failures. He is the culmination; the Ultimate Coordinator." Shinn blinked in surprise as Rey gripped his shoulders harder. "He is the symbol of everything us humans do wrong...I cannot forgive his existence..."

"Rey..." Shinn murmured, staring into his emotion-filled blue eyes.

"Someday ZAFT will no longer need him," Rey said, his voice beginning to falter, "and when that day comes, you, Shinn, will be the one to eliminate him. His existence cannot be forgiven."

"Rey, calm down," Shinn said uneasily.

"That's why..." Rey trailed off, blinking in surprise. He let go of Shinn, standing up, and Shinn got back to his feet, watching Rey carefully. His face had turned unusually pale; he was sweating and looked sick. "Excuse me," Rey said, disappearing back inside before Shinn could say anything.

Shinn stared after him for a moment, and then looked back out over the balcony.

Inside, Rey stumbled behind a pillar and pulled a small box of pills out of his uniform. He swallowed a handful of the pills and leaned painfully against the pillar, panting for breath.

"Kira...Yamato..." he breathed, his eyes flashing in fury. "I...I cannot forgive you..."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 9th, CE 73 - ZAFT Carpentaria Base, Australia, Oceania Union**

Gilbert Dullindal stood on the walkway leading to his shuttle. He felt a tinge of regret at not being able to stay on the _Minerva_ and nurture Shinn's Newtype powers, but Rey was capable of handling that. Talia, however, was another matter; she was determined to stand in his way, and he certainly couldn't allow _that_.

Standing before him was a young man with long orange hair and the shiny emblem of FAITH on his red-uniformed chest. Heine Westenfluss saluted promptly.

"You wanted to speak with me, Chairman?" Heine asked. Gilbert smiled; just because he couldn't be there personally didn't mean he couldn't be there some other way.

"I understand you led troops at the first battle of the war," Gilbert said. "In light of such an accomplishment, I have a new assignment for you. The -X2000 GOUF Ignited is almost finished; once it is, it will be shipped to Carpentaria and you will set out to join the _Minerva_." He looked across the base grounds, at the top of the _Minerva_'s bridge tower in the dock. "You are to bring with you promotions to FAITH for Talia Gladys and Shiho Hahnenfuss. The _Minerva_'s mission remains the same, as does Shiho's—however, your job aboard the _Minerva_ is to keep an eye on everyone, and keep me informed of what happens aboard the ship."

"Yes sir," Heine said, saluting again.

"The GOUF will be complete in a few days," Gilbert said, turning to leave. "Once it arrives you have the authority to do whatever you feel is necessary."

"I understand, sir," Heine answered. Gilbert smiled—with his loyal FAITH watchdog aboard the ship, it would be as if he had never left in the first place.

He turned and headed off towards his shuttle. Things would be getting interesting indeed.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	8. Phase 08: Suffering

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 08 - Suffering

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 10th, CE 73 - Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Pacific Ocean**

They had finally finished repairing the Windam, but nothing the mechanics could do would repair Neo Roanoke's mood...although Sting Oakley was thinking of a few things, mostly involving violence and bloodshed.

Standing on the deck of the _Girty Lue_, he let out a sigh. Neo had used Auel's block word to silence his teasing, and left it in Sting's hands to get Auel calmed back down, lest Neo use Sting's block word too. Auel had spent most of the night in his maintenance bed, as the technicians desperately tried to soothe him and keep him calm. Sting had only slept a few hours there; once dawn broke, he had headed out to the ship's deck, and watched as Neo's damaged Windam returned. He spent the rest of the day tinkering with the Chaos's internal systems, and when Auel shambled into the hangar, he and Sting silently agreed not to talk about the incident the previous night.

Today, however, Auel was the one tinkering with the Abyss, and Sting was back on the ship's deck, relaxing in the breeze.

Stella was there as well, staring blankly at the sea, as usual. It was probably just as well, though. Stella was hardly capable of having a conversation more than five minutes long; she would be a liability in mobile suit repairs, and would be an utter danger in the arduous task of upgrading the Gaia's engines for atmospheric flight. They had trained her, like they had trained all their subjects, to be highly proficient in the field of mobile suit mechanics, but this skill was counteracted by all the other...

Sting's thoughts trailed off. He knew what word he wanted, but if he allowed himself to think it, he would remember that he was really more similar to Stella than he would have liked.

Stella opened her mouth as if to say something, but Sting comfortably ignored her; she usually opened her mouth as if to say something, and nothing of interest would ever come out.

Sting instead found himself wondering what Neo thought of Stella; whether or not Stella was just another teenaged superweapon, like himself and Auel.

He heaved a sigh and headed back inside.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, ZAFT Carpentaria Base, Australia, Oceania Union**

Standing above the hangar, Rau Le Creuset watched impassively as Kira Yamato worked on the Freedom.

"I don't like him, Commander," protested the ship's captain, Davis. Rau glanced back at Davis with a smile.

"You can't forgive his existence either?" Rau asked with a chuckle. "Don't worry. Nobody can."

"I don't like him being exempt from everything the rest of us are subject to," Davis said flatly, staring at Rau. "Just because he's in FAITH. He was the one who stole the Freedom in the first place, after all."

"Kira's led a colorful life," Rau said, returning his attention to the brown-haired boy on the Gundam. "Circumstance landed him here. Surely you can't deny that he's a valuable asset."

"Of course he is," Davis agreed awkwardly.

Rau smiled back. "That's all he is, Davis. An asset. Nothing more."

Davis was silent as Rau crossed his arms.

"We will probably be sent to go deal with that mess in Cyprus," Rau continued. "Make sure the _Deliverance_'s submerging system is up to speed. This is the first ship of the class that can fly _and_ sail, so something is bound to go wrong."

Davis saluted. "Yes sir."

As Davis excused himself, Rau stared back at Kira.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn wasn't sure why, but somehow the whole thing seemed so stupid to him.

He stood on a high walkway, overlooking the port; three _Vosgulov_ submarines were currently docked, and were being loaded with squads of ZAFT mobile suits. Most of them were aging DINN models; Shinn knew from experience that the DINNs would be helpless if they ran into any of the Alliance's newer mobile suits. A squad of ugly GOOhNs stomped by towards the ships as the DINNs were lowered aboard.

Shinn thought back to the battle with the Windam. These aging ZAFT machines would be transformed into several different kinds of toast if that mysterious Bogey 1 returned. The _Minerva_'s assignment would take it to the Suez Canal; beyond Indonesia, they had between them all of Indochina, controlled by the Alliance-member Equatorial Union, and then the Indian Ocean, until they finally reached the Muslim League naval base of Socotra, Yemen. Then they had to pass through the Red Sea until at last they reached the Suez Canal, where the Eurasian Federation and the Separatists holding the canal were sure to put up a vicious fight.

Against that, ZAFT was sending essentially the same thing it had always sent. Shinn couldn't see all three of those submarines making it to Socotra; he couldn't see any of them surviving at the Suez Canal. And Shinn knew he could only protect the _Minerva_; those three submarines were beyond his abilities.

They were all going to their deaths. It was so pointless.

Shinn turned at the sound of footsteps, and saw Yolant approaching, a clipboard tucked under his arm.

"Oh, hi Shinn," Yolant said, waving amiably. He came up next to Shinn and looked down at the dock. "What are you doing up here?"

"Nothing," Shinn said quietly, leaning against the railing.

"So," Yolant continued, "those are the ships we're supposed to be going with?"

Shinn shrugged. "I guess so."

Yolant laughed. "Man, and they're loading them up with DINNs? They're gonna get trashed."

Shinn glanced over at Yolant, and then turned around, leaning against the railing again. "Why are they sending us with a bunch of troops that'll just get killed when we get there, if they even make it that far?" he muttered under his breath. Yolant heard him and blinked.

"Wow, not a whole lotta confidence in you either, I see," he said with a grin. "You have a point, though." He looked back down at the ships. "It's not like the Naturals have been sitting around with their thumbs up their asses all this time. Throwing the same shit at them now that we did two years ago probably won't get us any victories." He snorted derisively. "We're the Coordinators. We should know better than that. We're better than them and everything."

Shinn cast a sidelong glance at Yolant. "What are you saying?" he asked suspiciously. Yolant looked back, and for a moment, Shinn saw something positively terrifying in Yolant's eyes.

"I'm saying we shouldn't be the ones with the outdated equipment," Yolant said. "We're the Coordinators. We're stronger, faster, smarter, better. We should always be in the lead. We should never be left behind."

Shinn remembered that Yolant had been raised on the PLANTs; cocooned in a shell of Coordinator superiority, he had never had to live with Naturals; he had never seen for himself that Coordinators and Naturals were more alike than different.

He looked away uncomfortably as Yolant returned his attention to the dock.

"Well," Yolant continued, "you'll take care of them. Won't you, Shinn?"

Yolant looked up, but Shinn was already gone.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, ZAFT Carpentaria Base, Australia, Oceania Union**

"What do you mean 'what's wrong with Shinn?'" Lunamaria asked of her sister as they walked down the corridors of the _Minerva_, back towards their shared room. "He's as moody and pissy as he always is. Why?"

Meyrin looked away, holding her hands together awkwardly. "He just seems different," she said, "like...I dunno, I thought he'd be really happy that he won the Order of the Nebula and all."

"Shinn would still be moody and pissy if God Himself came to Earth and gave him His powers," Luna said with a laugh. "I wouldn't worry about. Moody and pissy are just parts of who Shinn is."

"But he's not crazy!" Meyrin protested. "I mean in battle he was _scary_! He was yelling at me, 'Meyrin, launch this!' and 'Meyrin, prepare that!' and he just threw himself at that mobile armor, like he didn't care if he died!"

"And that's why he's got that shiny medal," Luna countered. "That's my job and Rey's and Shiho's job as much as it is Shinn's, anyways."

"But you wouldn't just throw yourself into the face of some giant mobile armor like that," Meyrin said, "and Rey's too calm and professional to do that, and Shiho's a veteran so she knows better."

"Yeah, I guess so," Luna conceded. "Shinn _is_ pretty nuts in that regard." She smirked back at Meyrin. "Not that I wouldn't blow up an ugly mobile armor if I had to."

Meyrin sighed in exasperation.

"What's with the sudden bout of worry over Shinn anyways?" Luna inquired, to which Meyrin blinked in surprise and blushed. "He's been a lunatic like this all the time. Did you just now notice or what?"

"N-No," Meyrin stammered, "I just..." She looked away. "It was just weird...at Orb, he was...insane." She looked back at Luna. "I mean, I have to take care of you guys out there, especially him. I send him new Impulse parts, I send him data, I send him orders, I have to always be at his back, but I don't know where he'll go. And I know I still have to follow him."

"What, like riding a horse with no reins?" Luna asked, arching an eyebrow. Meyrin's face reddened even further, and a confused look crossed Luna's face.

"I guess you could put it that way," Meyrin mumbled to herself, staring resolutely at the floor.

Luna sighed, stretching her arms over her head. "Well, Shinn might be crazy but he's not stupid," she said conclusively. "I guess I see your point, though. I'll see if I can keep him from doing anything _really_ insane." She laughed again. "Man, all this talk about 'following him wherever he goes' makes you sound like you've got the hots for him or something!"

Meyrin cast an annoyed glance at Luna.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 11th, CE 73 - Office of the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 4**

The office of Gilbert Dullindal was typically an ill-lit place, but in the darkness, the light from a sole screen cast an eerie shadow over the Chairman's face.

No shadow, however, could match the eeriness of Rau Le Creuset.

Rau's masked face was on the screen, staring dourly at Gilbert in confusion and almost disapproval.

"What's so special about that kid in the Impulse?" Rau asked at last.

Gilbert blinked in clearly feigned confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about," he answered.

"Of course you do," Rau shot back; behind his mask, Gilbert imagined him glaring. "You merrily foisted yourself upon the crew of the _Minerva_ without good reason, and despite numerous opportunities otherwise, you never got off until you got to Carpentaria. In the meantime, and with you as a passenger, the _Minerva_ has become a public sensation and the Impulse's pilot has become a media darling. Surely you were there for a reason. I'd like to hear it."

Gilbert narrowed his eyes at Rau; there was no backing out now.

"Shinn is a Newtype," Gilbert said authoritatively, trying to stare Rau down. "He shows a great deal of potential Newtype power that we can potentially harness for our plans. It never hurts to have another mobile suit ace attack dog." He paused. "Surely you agree?"

"We already have a mobile suit ace attack dog," Rau said in annoyance. "And the one we have now is easy to maintain because I have a lovely lady over here who takes inordinate delight in messing with his mind. Kira was easy to manipulate; Shinn is not."

Gilbert sneered; what did Rau know about Shinn? He hadn't been on the same ship as the boy.

"You can't say that for certain," Gilbert said, choosing his words carefully.

Rau allowed a hint of a scowl onto his face. "I've met that boy. He's different from Kira; he fights for something without hesitation; he holds a grudge. If you've been implanting all these ideas in his head about how special he is, he'll run with them, and sooner or later he'll see himself as even more powerful than _you_, and then we'll have a formidable wild card running around."

Gilbert snorted dismissively. "I'm not worried about that," he said. "Shinn fights without hesitation, but he has nowhere else to go. His family is dead, he hates Orb, and he's a Coordinator; he'd never get into the Earth Alliance, especially now. We are his only option."

Rau was more than likely glaring now, if he hadn't been before. "Those words had better not come back to haunt us," he said. "Kira was easy, but now you're playing with fire."

The screen went dark as Rau ended the transmission, and in the darkness, Gilbert sat back, smirking.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation**

"What do you mean you're not ready yet?!"

The question rang throughout the metallic room beneath the Djibril mansion. Standing in front of his chair, Lord Djibril glared furiously at the screen, and its depiction of the masked and helmeted face of Neo Roanoke.

"The mechanics on the _Girty Lue_ have just finished modifying the Gaia's thrusters for atmospheric flight," Neo said flatly, "and we're still running tests on the Windam."

"Why?!" Djibril roared. "Enough tests! I want that damned ship sunk as soon as it leaves Carpentaria!"

"The _Minerva_ is not like other ZAFT ships," Neo responded. "You can't just 'sink it.' Don't forget that that one mobile suit, the Impulse, took down the Zamzazar singlehandedly at Orb."

"Shooting down one mobile armor does not make that damned Gundam invincible," Djibril snapped. "The _Minerva_ is becoming a rallying point for the PLANTs. We cannot allow that ship to sail any longer. I want it sunk."

"Like I told you, that's easier said than done," Neo said, his voice beginning to sound aggravated. "Whoever that guy in the Impulse is, he's good, and he's hell-bent on protecting the ship. We have to go through him to sink it."

"Then go through him!" Djibril growled. "You are uncharacteristically cautious, Phantom Pain."

"I don't want to get killed," Neo shot back. "My captain already suspects something is afoot, and two of my Extended are growing rebellious. I have to take care of these problems before I can go sinking big shiny ZAFT ships for you."

Djibril scowled, pounding his fist on the armrest of his chair. "If you don't sink the _Minerva_ soon, ZAFT will start rallying around it and their forces will pick up momentum, and God knows what they'll do then." He looked back at Neo, hatred flashing in his eyes. "Sink the _Minerva_ when it leaves port. Or else."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, ZAFT Carpentaria Base, Australia, Oceania Union**

The lounge of the _Minerva_ was abuzz with rumors, but Shiho expertly tuned it out. The commander always stays above the rumors and stays informed—Yzak had taught her that.

The screens displayed a PLANT anchorman droning on, as they always seemed to, but what caught everyone's attention were the images. The Equatorial Union, as part of their contribution to the Earth Alliance's war with ZAFT, were launching a massive attack dubbed Operation _Judgment_ into the Australian continent, and their battalions were already overtaking the city of Darwin, around five hundred kilometers west of Carpentaria, their ultimate goal. Their plan seemed to be to storm across the undefended Australian countryside and attack Carpentaria from within the continent, and the forces of the Oceania Union were already struggling to fight back.

Shiho wondered if this would change the _Minerva_'s mission. The _Minerva_ was only one ship, but it wasn't any one ship—if the talk was to be believed, the _Minerva_ was already gaining infamy among the Earth Alliance forces.

Rey stepped past her; Shiho felt herself tense. He cast a slow, deliberate glance at her and continued on his way. Shiho shivered once he had passed; she held a sneaking suspicion about him, that there was some kind of secret he had—something important and powerful, right under her nose.

On the screen, a missile plowed into a GuAIZ R's chest and blew it apart. It served him right; that's why they had shields.

She glanced around the room again. Lunamaria was talking excitedly with Shinn across the room—Shinn had his arms crossed, looking somewhat bored as Luna chattered on. Yzak had been like that with Shiho—she remembered now, in biting retrospect, how she would adoringly follow her commander's footsteps.

And then she remembered Junius 7.

Shiho stood up, her eyes beginning to cloud over with tears, and left the room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 12th, CE 73 - Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_, Onogoro Island, United Emirates of Orb**

The gleaming new supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_ was the first of its class in what represented a giant step forward for the Orb Navy. The ship held within its cavernous hull over two hundred mobile suits; in the dozens of _Aegis_-class battleships and _Kuraokami_-class cruisers surrounding the _Takemikazuchi _were even more.

Sitting on the bridge, in his fresh, decorated Orb uniform, Jona Roma Seiran watched it all with a feeling of immense fulfillment.

"Attention _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet, this is Admiral Jona Roma Seiran," he said into the intercom at his side. "Our preparations are complete; in accordance with our treaty of alliance with the Atlantic Federation, we will depart from Onogoro Island as the Orb Navy _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet."

Jona glanced around the bridge; the crew stood at attention, facing him. At his side, also at attention, stood Captain Todaka, the captain of the _Takemikazuchi_.

They would surely all hate what he had to say next.

"The Atlantic Federation has requested of us a particular mission," he went on. "Our mission is to neutralize the Orb Raiders."

Around the bridge, faces and figures twitched with disapproval at Jona's words. He suppressed a smile.

"We will pursue these terrorists wherever they go, and we will be ruthless when we find them. I expect you all to do your duty to Orb."

The crew hesitated for a moment, and then saluted.

"_Takemikazuchi_, launch!" Todaka ordered; his voice quavered almost imperceptibly, but Jona heard it and allowed himself a tiny smile.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT Carpentaria Base, Australia, Oceania Union**

The sound of a fist pounding against skin went unnoticed in by the passerby as Shinn Asuka stalked through the officer's club. He still didn't know why they had let him in here; he supposed it had to do with his shiny medal, but he had also seen several other ZAFT Reds in here, so there was obviously some precedent to his presence. They still hadn't given him anything to do; the _Minerva_ wasn't scheduled to depart until tomorrow, leaving Shinn with an entire day to fill.

There was a small cafe for off-duty soldiers around a corner; Shinn slipped in silently, resolving for some kind of powerful drink to calm his nerves.

The bartender's surly scowl was enough to deter Shinn from pushing his luck and asking for something alcoholic, so he settled into a secluded booth with a mug of piping, pitch-black coffee.

A shadow fell over Shinn a moment later; he looked up, and blinked at surprise as Rau Le Creuset towered over him.

"So, this is where you hide out," Rau said with a smile, before Shinn could stand up and salute. "I've been looking for you." He glanced at the empty seat in front of Shinn. "Do you mind?"

Shinn shook his head. Rau slid into the empty seat, still smiling.

"I apologize on behalf of Kira for the incident the other day," Rau continued. "I understand you must still harbor ill will towards him."

Shinn looked across the table at Rau. He felt cold; he felt like something was prying into him.

_There seems to be no fooling you, Shinn,_ a voice said. Shinn blinked in surprise, sitting up with wide eyes; Rau grinned.

"Perhaps I should explain," he said. "Have you heard of Newtypes?"

Shinn looked down into his coffee. "Yes," he said quietly.

"Don't bother hiding things from me, Shinn," Rau said, his face darkening for a moment. Shinn blinked again. "The Chairman told you, didn't he?"

Shinn nodded after a moment's thought. Rau looked away in what seemed like annoyance, his smile vanishing.

"So I thought," he said. "I suppose I have some damage control to do, then. Tell me what he told you."

Shinn hesitated; Rau frowned.

"Rest assured that I am far more knowledgeable about Newtypes than the Chairman," he added. "I _am_ a Newtype. The Chairman just wishes he was one."

Shinn continued to hesitate for a moment, before he finally spoke, still staring at his coffee. "The Chairman said I'm a Newtype...he told me that they're supposed to be like psychics, or something."

"I figured as much," Rau said. "Then allow me to fill you in on the rest."

"What?" Shinn asked, looking up. Rau settled back into his seat.

"The Chairman told you that you have new powers that allow you to understand people and their emotions; people who can see the future. And that is a power that people have desperately craved— to see the future, to know how it will all turn out, to know what happens next, to know what your life will mean before you've lived it out. And that is a power that people will kill for.

"But that alone raises its own interesting problems," he continued. "What if people are evil? What if they are angry, scared, lost, confused? You will know those feelings as well. What if they hate each other? You will feel that hate. What if they fear each other? You will feel that fear. Are you prepared to handle the emotions of others, in addition to your own? Humans all suffer— but now you will share in that suffering."

Shinn was silent for a moment. "Why would the Chairman hide the other side of this Newtype thing from me, then?" he asked. "He told me he gave me the Impulse because of that."

"Unfortunately, I cannot give you all the answers," Rau said, his smile still on his face. "Some things remain for you to figure out yourself. You're a Newtype, after all; it shouldn't be too hard. You're _special_, after all."

"Then why are they the special ones?" Shinn asked carefully. "What makes them so special that they get to transcend everything?"

"That's the point of a Newtype, isn't it?" Rau countered with a smile. "The whole point of having advanced emotional perception is to transcend all the problems that arise among us humans because we don't understand each other. It doesn't matter what has happened to the world." Shadows fell across his mask as he continued; Shinn felt a cold feeling rising up through his blood. "There have always been Newtypes. There will always be Newtypes. There will always be a suffering few who understand the world and suffer because of the wars everyone else fights. That's just the way it is."

Shinn stared suspiciously at Rau. Rau smiled back.

"Newtypes suffer," Rau said. "Keep that in mind, Shinn."

He stood up and walked away.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 13th, CE 73 - ZAFT Carpentaria Base, Australia, Oceania Union**

"_Minerva_, launching!"

The ship began to creep out of the port. On the balcony overhead, Rau stood with crossed arms, smiling as the ship departed.

Valentine came up next to him. "So they're finally leaving," she said, leaning on the rail and staring down at the _Minerva_ as it departed.

"Off to the Suez Canal," Rau answered. "They have no idea what they're getting into."

Valentine paused a moment, still staring at the _Minerva_. "Kira is still shaken up from his encounter with Shinn."

"As well he should be," Rau said with a chuckle. "Shinn Asuka is no ordinary human being."

"He can't be _that_ special," Valentine grumbled. "Even if he is such a powerful Newtype, there's no one around to make him aware of his powers. He'll just think it's all stress or something."

"On the contrary," Rau said, casting a sidelong glance and a wicked smile at Valentine. "Our dear Chairman has already been stuffing Shinn's little head full of Newtype dogma."

Valentine blinked in surprise, looking back at Rau. "What? You mean—"

"Don't worry," Rau said, still smiling, as he looked back at the _Minerva_. "Shinn fits quite well into our plans."

Valentine glowered back at the _Minerva_.

"Speaking of our dear Chairman," Rau went on, "he's approved the Destiny Mobile Weapon Development Project."

Valentine glanced back at Rau. "New mobile suits for us to play with?"

"For me to play with," Rau corrected. "Kira's Freedom will be replaced with something so disgustingly overpowered it will turn your stomach."

Valentine sniffed dismissively. "That means you're going to stick me with the Freedom, aren't you? I hate you."

"I'm sure you do," Rau said with a chuckle. "The war will be changing gears soon. We'll all want to stay ahead of everyone. I know it turns your stomach, but I'll have to ask you to pilot Kira's...oh, what did you call it? His 'Phallic Compensation Gundam?'"

Heaving a melodramatic sigh, Valentine looked back down at the _Minerva_.

"Our plans are moving along nicely," Rau said. "Just be patient."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	9. Phase 09: The Children's War

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 09 - The Children's War

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 14th, CE 73 - Office of the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

"I understand my assignment, sir," Heine Westenfluss said, his voice broken for a moment by a burst of static. "I am to bring FAITH appointments and assignments for Captain Talia Gladys and Commander Shiho Hahnenfuss. I am also to keep watch over the _Minerva_ and report back to you periodically, particularly concerning Shinn Asuka."

On the screen of his laptop, Gilbert smiled.

"The Integrated Design Bureau reports that it's finished the -X2000 GOUF Ignited. It's being shipped from the Military Affairs Station to Carpentaria—once it arrives, take it to Socotra and join the _Minerva_."

"Yes sir," Heine said, saluting.

"Our intelligence indicates that the South African Union is brewing a big attack on Socotra," Gilbert added. "Perhaps you'll get a chance to prove yourself in combat again."

"Socotra will not fall so long as I am there to defend it, sir," Heine said. Gilbert sat back, still smiling.

"Of course it won't," he said. "Dismissed."

Heine saluted, and the screen went dark.

Gilbert chuckled. "Time for my wolf to start prowling among the sheep."

He gazed down at his laptop, pressed a few keys, and smiled at the preliminary blueprints for the Destiny Gundam.

"Little Shinn," he said. "Whatever Djibril throws at me...you will have this to stop him."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Indian Ocean**

Ian Lee found himself using every ounce of soldierly professionalism to keep in check his urge to burst out laughing. To his right, Neo Roanoke was sitting in his chair, gripping the armrests with mounting frustration, and glowering at the grizzled Earth Alliance officer on the screen before them both.

"Look, Captain Harrison," Neo said, through clenched teeth. "The ZAFT battleship _Minerva_—you've heard of the _Minerva_, I'm sure? It ripped Rear Admiral Hutchinson a new one at Orb."

"I know," the grizzled officer snapped back. "Which is precisely why I will not commit my squadron to fighting them. Not without a fleet group behind me to help."

Neo was on the verge of yelling now. Lee watched in amusement as he sighed and tried to compose himself.

"I have orders from the top to bring this ship down," Neo said. "From the President himself."

The officer blinked. "The President specifically ordered _you_, Colonel Roanoke, to sink one ship."

"It's an important ship," Neo answered, looking somewhat calmer. "It needs to be taken down. At all costs."

The officer looked unconvinced, but heaved a sigh at last. "Fine," he said. "We tracked it coming in from the southeast. We're in position to hit it from the west; you hit it from the east and we'll try to squeeze him."

Neo smiled. "Pleasure doing business with you, Captain."

The screen went dark. Neo sighed again; this time in what Lee could only guess was a mix of relief and annoyance.

"The mechanical corps reports that they have just finished refitting the Gaia's engines for atmospheric flight," one of the bridge crewmen reported. "The Daggers have been fitted with their new Striker packs. We're all set to attack."

"Good," Neo said. He glanced at Lee.

"We'll still probably have to chase them for a couple of days before we can attack with the mobile suits," Lee warned. Neo shrugged dismissively.

"Either way, we'll have the _Minerva_ trapped when we do," he said. "The _James Monroe_, the _Topeka_, and the _Concord_ will be in position too. They should be able to soften the _Minerva_ up, at the least." He stood up, smiling. "This time we'll sink that ship for sure."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 15th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Indian Ocean**

_The Freedom Gundam swung its beam saber down onto the Impulse, slamming against its shield; Shinn grunted as the Impulse rattled. The Freedom batted the Impulse away like a fly; Shinn screamed in anger and charged._

_The Freedom's eyes flashed, paralyzing the Impulse's pilot. Shinn screamed as the Freedom stormed into the Impulse's face; the beam saber went slashing into the Impulse's cockpit—_

Shinn awoke to the sharp feeling of Rey smacking him across the face. He sputtered in shock as he fell out of bed, and looked back up with wide, bloodshot eyes at Rey, staring back impassively.

"You were having a nightmare," Rey said curtly, getting up and heading back to his own bed.

"I know," Shinn grunted, picking himself up off the floor. "You didn't have to hit me."

Rey said nothing, returning to his own bed and turning his back to Shinn.

"You can't beat Kira Yamato like this," Rey said after a moment's pause. Shinn blinked in surprise, looking back over at Rey. "Pull yourself together and you'll defeat him."

Shinn opened his mouth to speak, but could not force the words out. He sighed and slumped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

_I couldn't do it here anyways,_ he told himself. _He's in FAITH._ A scowl twisted its way onto his face. _He's _special _now_.

The Chairman's words came drifting back to answer him. Shinn was special too, or so said the Chairman. Shinn did not _feel _special, and he certainly did not want to be special. He was a soldier. He did his job. He protected the PLANTs, because...

Shinn stared at the ceiling, grasping for an answer; none emerged. He knew he bore no real allegiance to the PLANTs; they were not his home, and the Coordinators really were not his people.

Shinn sighed and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the memories and hoping for some sleep.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 16th, CE 73 - Indian Ocean**

"But...Stella doesn't understand..."

Neo held back a sigh of frustration. Stella never understood.

The _Girty Lue_'s mobile suits flew in formation over the ocean, with Neo's purple Windam at the lead. At his side were the Chaos and Gaia Gundams; below the Windam, under the water's surface, was the Abyss Gundam in its mobile armor mode; behind them all were the _Girty Lue_'s six Dark Dagger Ls, sporting Jet Striker packs.

"Just attack the combining one," Neo said slowly. "Leave everything else to us."

Auel rolled his eyes. "Just let us do the fighting, Stella," he added in irritation.

"But will Neo be okay?" Stella asked quietly, staring back at Neo with wide eyes. "Neo got beaten last time..."

Sting and Auel snickered, and Neo rolled his own eyes behind his mask. _Everyone_ had to bring that up.

"I'll be fine, Stella," he said. "You just worry about the combiner."

"Colonel," one of the Dagger pilots broke in. "_Minerva_ sighted at 10 o'clock, distance 6500."

"Understood," Neo said. "_Girty Lue_ squadron, follow me! Today that ship goes down!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_**

Ten mobile suits, the bridge said, were on their way; Shinn found himself unable to take the report seriously. Ten mobile suits? Against the whole _Minerva_ squadron? Even the outdated DINNs would be able to handle _that_. Then Shinn heard the name "Bogey 1."

Well, that sure changed _everything_.

The Core Splendor was starting up as Shinn closed the visor of his helmet, cursing the entire time. How had Bogey 1 managed to get back to Earth? Why were they attacking the _Minerva_ now, of all times?

"Shinn," Shiho's voice interrupted his thoughts, her face appearing on the screen, "don't worry about the submarines. Just focus on protecting the _Minerva_."

"Roger," Shinn said quickly, as the lift stopped and the catapult activated.

"Core Splendor, ready for launch," Meyrin's voice announced; Shinn blinked in surprise, and wondered if he had really heard her voice quaver for a moment.

"Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, going out!" he shouted.

The Core Splendor took off with a roar.

Docking the Impulse parts together was like walking down the hallways by now. Shinn squinted ahead, hoping to catch a glimpse of his foes. If this was Bogey 1 attacking, then that meant the Gaia would probably be back. And if the Gaia was back, that meant the pressure would be back too.

Shinn narrowed his eyes at the sunny horizon as he assembled the Force Impulse. Whoever was out there, they were going to have to come up against him first.

The Savior fell into formation ahead of the Impulse; at his back, Shinn could see Lunamaria and Rey's ZAKUs on Guul subflight systems. And behind the _Minerva_, Shinn could see the three _Vosgulov_s launching their DINN squadrons. He looked back out at the horizon.

"_Minerva_ squadron," a voice spoke up, interrupting Shinn's thoughts again. Shinn glanced at the face, seeing a Green Shirt's flight suit, and realized that he was looking at one of the DINN squadron commanders. "This is the Stuart Team. We're authorizing your MS commander to take charge."

"Understood," Shiho answered. "The Stuart, Bagley, and Anderson teams will follow us and engage the enemy at will. Objective is merely to hold them off, until we have a better picture of what the enemy is trying to accomplish."

"Roger," Stuart answered. "I hear you guys got that Impulse kid with you."

"Yes sir," Shinn said reluctantly. A chuckle filled his ears.

"We'll be watching. Show us what you can do, kid!"

The DINNs fell into formation behind the Impulse. Shinn scowled back at them; they were all going to die, but they were still blindly charging forward to fight a foe Shinn knew completely outclassed them.

He looked back at the horizon once again.

"What do you mean the Abyss isn't there?" Luna exclaimed suddenly.

"It's not being picked up on the radar!" Meyrin protested.

"Too late!" Shiho interrupted. "They're here!"

The beams came flashing in; Shinn grunted and deflected two of them with his shield. Immediately, a shot smashed into a DINN's torso; the mobile suit exploded.

Shinn glanced at the fireball. Just as he had predicted.

CIWS fire pelted the Impulse, and Shinn turned, to find the Gaia storming into his face. Inside the Gaia, Stella's face twisted into a scowl.

"The combiner," she murmured to herself. "I'll take you down this time!"

Shinn clenched his teeth, diving away from the Gaia and firing back with his beam rifle. "It can fly too?!" he growled. "Shit, they must have modified it!"

Another DINN exploded, and a Dark Dagger went diving away from the blast, smoke trailing from the muzzle of its bazooka. Shinn swung his beam rifle around to aim at it, but the Gaia spoiled his shot an instant later.

"Dammit," Shinn grunted. He clipped the rifle to the Impulse's rear skirt armor and drew a beam saber instead. "If that's how you want to fight, then that's how we'll fight!"

The Gaia switched to its own saber; Stella swung forward with a scream; the Impulse charged back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

A storm of missiles flashed by in front of the Windam; Neo smirked as he saw the white ZAKU Phantom charging at him on a Guul.

"Easy," he muttered to himself. "Just get rid of that thing and he's toast."

The white ZAKU opened fire with its beam rifle; Neo laughed as the Windam twisted out of the way.

"Little shadow of Rau!" he shouted at the ZAKU as he fired back with his own beam rifle, forcing the ZAKU back. "You have no place on the battlefield anyways!"

The ZAKU burst up over the Windam's head, brandishing a beam tomahawk. It came hurtling down; Neo deflected the ZAKU's tomahawk strike with his shield.

"Dullindal's no longer on the _Minerva_," Neo said, "so now I can send this ship to hell and back if I want!"

The Windam surged forward, pushing the white ZAKU back, and swung its beam rifle up for a killing shot.

"Say goodbye, kid in white!"

The ZAKU hurled its tomahawk at the Windam before Neo could fire; Neo took cover behind the Windam's shield, but the force behind the tomahawk sent him reeling. "Damn you...!" The Windam staggered back in midair, while the ZAKU caught its tomahawk and fired back with its beam rifle.

Inside the ZAKU, Rey scowled and engaged the booster, firing a storm of missiles at the Windam. Neo would not defeat him here; that much was certain.

The Windam charged with a beam saber; Rey fired a storm of missiles from his Guul, forcing the Windam back.

The Windam retreated into the cloud cover; Rey boosted to the side and followed.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The pressure was back again, like a knife digging into the back of Shinn's head; he struggled to ignore it as the Gaia Gundam wheeled around for another beam saber blow. Inside the Gaia, Stella screamed as the Gaia and Impulse's sabers clashed.

"Dammit," Shinn grunted. "If this is what it's like to be a Newtype then I'll _never _be able to fight anyone!"

The Gaia ducked underneath Shinn's next saber swipe and rocketed up into his face; Shinn kicked it in the side of the head, sending it staggering back; he swung up his beam saber and dropped in for the kill—

A moment later, the Chaos shoved the Gaia aside, blocking Shinn's saber swing with its shield.

"Shit!" Shinn shouted. "You again!" He pulled back, dodging beam rifle fire from the Chaos and shooting down its missiles. Inside the Chaos, Sting glanced over at the Gaia.

"Stella!" he shouted. "If you can't handle him, I will!"

The Chaos aimed its rifle again, but a flurry of beam blasts shots slammed against its shield, and the Savior came rocketing in, beam rifle blazing; the Chaos took off into the sky, the Savior pursuing. The Gaia fired its booster and took off again after the Impulse.

Shinn grunted in annoyance as voices began shouting at him from all sides, as the Gaia and Impulse met with a crash.

"Captain!" he heard Burt exclaim through the noise on the _Minerva_'s bridge. "Three enemy ships, coming in from 9'o'clock!"

"What?!" Talia exclaimed.

"Mobile suits approaching!"

Shinn risked a glance towards the horizon, and found an armada of Jet Dagger Ls on their way. The Gaia surged into his face; Shinn responded with a knee to the Gaia's stomach and a kick to the face, forcing the mobile suit back. He dropped down for a killing slash, but the Gaia deflected it with its shield and fired back with its CIWS, pulling back. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off the Impulse's Phase Shift armor, but Shinn grunted and squinted through the flashing lights.

"Damn you!" he screamed. "Die already!"

The Impulse charged, its beam saber raised—

A blaze of beam shots flashed into his path from the ocean; Shinn slammed on the brakes, and the Impulse shuddered as the Abyss Gundam brought its lance down onto the Impulse's shield.

"Where the hell did _you_ come from?!" Shinn screamed at his new opponent.

"Auel!" Stella shouted. "Stella was fighting—"

"And you were doing a shitty job!" Auel snapped back. "Let me show you—"

The Abyss rocked as the Impulse kicked it in the face and sent it staggering back into the ocean; Shinn screamed again as the Gaia and the Impulse clashed.

The pressure was back; Shinn could sense another turmoil of emotions before him.

"Damn you!" Shinn screamed again. "Every time I fight you I feel this pressure! Who the hell _are_ you?!"

The pressure intensified; before him, Shinn sensed a whirlwind of emotions, like he always did when he fought the Gaia—but this time, something was different. It felt warped, distorted somehow, like something had altered it. He felt pain, fear, anger, and insanity; but it all felt distorted.

"What the hell is this?!" Shinn screamed again.

A flurry of beam shots flashed by him; Shinn pulled back, drawing his beam rifle, and swung upwards, pointing his rifle skyward and firing; the shot drilled through a pair of Dagger Ls vertically, slamming through their cockpits.

Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief as a new feeling washed over him. He felt as if two flames had just been snuffed out; deep in his stomach, he felt sick, and his entire body shivered as a cold feeling overtook him. The Daggers exploded; Shinn stared in horror at the blasts.

_I've never felt this before! What is this?!_

The Impulse rocked; Shinn blinked in surprise as the Gaia slashed his beam rifle in two and kicked the Impulse in the face, sending it tumbling out of the sky.

"What the hell is this feeling?!" Shinn shouted, drawing the Impulse's beam saber and charging again.

Another chill swept over him; all around him, he could feel anger, panic, fear, frustration, and death. All around him he could feel what seemed like tiny flames; nearby, a DINN was shot down and exploded before it reached the water; Shinn fell another flame go out. The Impulse shuddered as the Gaia slammed its saber down onto Shinn's—Shinn clenched his fists around the Impulse's controls.

"_What the hell is going on?!_" he shrieked. "_Why am I feeling this way?!_"

He swung his saber at the Gaia; a wall of fear was there to meet him.

"_Why can't I fight you?!_" Shinn screamed, deflecting the Gaia's saber slash with his shield and feeling frustration rise up before him. "_I won't let you beat me like this!_" He swung again; again, he felt panic from the Gaia. "_I can't die like this!_"

"Shinn!" he heard Shiho's voice shout. "What the hell are you screaming about?! Control yourself!"

"_I'm not going to die like this!_" Shinn screamed, charging at the Gaia again. "_I can beat you!_"

The Impulse charged; in the Gaia's cockpit, Stella clenched her fists around the controls, and the mobile suits clashed in a shower of sparks.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Lunamaria cursed under her breath as yet another beam cannon shot went sailing wide of its intended target. The Abyss was simply too fast as it skimmed over the water's surface, returning her fire in spades. She maneuvered her unwieldy Guul through the air as best she could, but it was only a matter of time before it would be shot down, depositing her into the ocean, where her ZAKU would be helpless.

The Abyss fired a blaze of beam cannon shots at Luna's ZAKU; she slammed on the brakes, letting the shots flash by, but immediately the Abyss was upon her, beam lance raised high. The lance blade slammed down against the ZAKU's shield; Luna fired a storm of missiles from her Guul into the Abyss's face and pulled back, taking aim with her beam cannon.

"_I'm not going to die like this!_" Shinn's voice shrieked through her helmet; she turned in disbelief, as the Force Impulse charged at the Gaia.

Another storm of beam fire flashed by Luna's ZAKU; she pulled back again, taking cover behind her shield, as the Abyss jumped into the air and poured firepower onto her machine. The Abyss rocketed up into her face, twirling its lance over its head; Luna swung her beam cannon around, but a moment later, the Abyss cut it in half, and an explosion nearly threw her into the ocean. The Abyss swung its lance back for a killing blow; Luna screamed—

The Abyss shuddered and a moment later, it went sailing out of the air and into the water again, as the Impulse slammed into it with its shield.

"_You won't kill her!"_ Shinn screamed, pulling his saber back. The Abyss barely blocked Shinn's saber strike with the beam tip of its lance, as it floundered to get its bearings; Shinn tried to swing again, but the Abyss dove into the water.

A storm of missiles came down around Shinn, and he turned, finding the Chaos raging towards him. Two Daggers were at its side, firing at him with bazookas.

"_I can beat you!_" Shinn shrieked, wheeling around and charging right back at them, deflecting their shots with his shield, even as more beam shots tore deep, dark scars into the Impulse's armor. "_You're just a bunch of machines!_"

The Daggers moved in, drawing beam sabers; Shinn screamed as he charged at them, ducking between their sabers and slashing them both in half; once again he felt pressure and sickness as the Daggers exploded. The Impulse reeled as the Chaos slammed into its back with its shield and raised its rifle.

"Shinn!" Luna shouted; she drew her beam rifle and fired up at the Chaos, forcing it back before it could pick off the Impulse. "Shinn, what's wrong?!"

"_You're just machines!_" Shinn yelled as the Impulse swung around and looked up at the Chaos. "_I can fight you!_"

A DINN fired into the sky with its machinegun, but a beam shot blasted off its right arm, and an instant later, a Dark Dagger swept in with beam saber upraised to slice the DINN in half.

"_Stop it!_" Shinn screamed, charging after the Dark Dagger with his beam saber. It drew its beam carbine and fired back, taking off into the sky before Shinn could reach it.

Neo's Windam came storming in out of the sky to fire its rifle down at Shinn; the Impulse deflected the shots with its shield and pulled back.

Inside the Windam's cockpit, Neo smiled to himself. Shinn was an utter mess of emotion; obviously, he was starting to realize the downside of Newtype powers. Neo switched to the Windam's beam saber and moved in for the kill.

Shinn looked up; he saw the Windam charged in, but he felt himself being crushed by an invisible pressure, and this time it was coming from the Windam. It felt familiar; it was the Windam he had encountered before, before the _Minerva_ had reached Carpentaria.

Shinn shrank into his seat, his head swimming, as he felt pressure on all sides, weighing him down. He had never felt this before; he clenched his trembling fists around the Impulse's controls, trying to move, but his body refused to respond. The Windam raised its saber—

"I won't let you!"

Out of nowhere, Rey's white ZAKU Phantom slammed into the Windam, its right-hand shield extended to smash the Windam aside. The Windam went staggering out of the air; Rey's ZAKU pulled back and fired with its beam rifle, blowing off the Windam's left leg at the knee. As the Windam pulled away, trailing smoke, Rey's ZAKU moved in to put a hand on the Impulse's shoulder.

"Rey!" Shinn exclaimed, as the ZAKU turned its monoeye on him.

"Shinn," Rey said, "return to the _Minerva_. You are no longer able to fight."

"But Rey—" Shinn began.

Rey narrowed his eyes at Shinn. "That is an order, Shinn."

The ZAKU took off, and Shinn watched in disbelief as Rey left, the words still ringing in his ears.

Up above, Lunamaria moved in towards Shinn, but an alarm went off at her side; a moment later, a Dagger L had swept in with its beam saber to sever her ZAKU's right arm at the elbow and kick her off her Guul. The Dagger raised its beam carbine for a killing shot—

A moment later, the Dagger's arm went sailing into the ocean, and the Impulse swung its saber through the Dagger's waist, cutting it in half. Shinn ground his teeth as the Dagger exploded and the feeling returned. The Impulse grabbed Luna's ZAKU by its remaining arm and directed it towards the _Minerva_'s deck.

Shinn turned towards the battlefield; up above, the Savior Gundam transformed and shot down a Dagger with its beam rifle; Shinn grunted at the sensation. The Impulse took off into the air; another DINN nearby was blown apart by a Dagger's bazooka.

Shinn ignited his beam saber and charged at the Gaia, as it swung around to shoot down another DINN. With a scream, Shinn brought his beam saber down on the Gaia; it swung around and deflected the strike with its shield, switching to its own beam saber.

Shinn felt panic and anger again, through the same distorted lens as before. He stared into the Gaia's glowering face; he wracked his brain for a reason why.

He never found one; a tower of water rose up from the ocean's surface, and in his ears, Shinn heard panic voices.

"The _Saint Augustine!_" someone yelled. "It's been hit!"

"What?!" Talia shouted. "By what?!"

"The Abyss!" a terrified voice screamed. "It's the Abyss! It's—"

There was a burst of static; Shinn looked down, and saw a dark shape streaking through the water. Inside the Abyss Gundam, in its mobile armor mode, Auel Neider laughed as he showered the _Saint Augustine_ with torpedoes.

"I'm sorry for being so powerful!" he cackled. "It's over now! _Die!_" The Abyss transformed and thrust its lance into the _Saint Augustine_'s engines; arms of fire began to rip the submarine apart, and the Abyss darted away.

Shinn's eyes went wide as dozens of flames went out; the Impulse pulled away slowly from the Gaia, as Shinn stared ahead, trembling.

The Gaia charged in, saber raised for a kill; the Savior darted into the Gaia's path, deflecting its saber stroke with its shield and kicking it back.

"Shinn!" Shiho shouted. "What the hell are you doing?! Wake up!"

_They...they're all dead..._

Shinn squeezed his eyes shut as he heard screams of terror and pain; the pressure surrounded him, crushing him on all sides.

He saw his family again, on the blasted slope on Onogoro in CE 71; he saw the Freedom overhead. He saw Junius 7 fall again; he saw the Zamzazar again; Rau's words returned.

"_Newtypes suffer. Keep that in mind, Shinn."_

Shinn lifted his head back and screamed; a seed burst.

The Impulse charged up, over the Savior's head; Shinn screamed, his dull eyes wide, and slammed his beam saber down onto the Gaia's, forcing it back with sheer momentum.

"_STOP IT!_" he shrieked, swiveling around. He faced the three Earth Alliance ships attacking the _Minerva_. A squadron of Dagger Ls was rising to meet him; Shinn charged at them with wide eyes, screaming. "_STOP FIGHTING US!_"

The Impulse moved in a blur; the Daggers fired, but their shots passed by the blazing Impulse harmlessly. Across the battlefield, Rey stared in disbelief.

"He's increasing the thruster output," he murmured to himself.

"That idiot! He'll kill himself!" Shiho exclaimed. "Rey, come on, we've got to stop him!" The Savior and the ZAKU Phantom took off after the Impulse.

The Impulse flashed past one of the Daggers, beheading it as it passed, and stormed up into the Chaos's face, slashing its beam rifle in half as well. The Chaos tried to pull back and draw a beam saber; Shinn slashed off its arm as it did and kicked it into the ocean. Sting stared in disbelief as a blur of a mobile suit stormed up into the Gaia's face; Shinn screamed as he decapitated the Gaia and kicked it into the sea. He charged towards the ships, aiming first for one of the destroyers. It fired its weapons up at him; Shinn charged straight through their fire, letting the Impulse's Phase Shift deflect it harmlessly, and shrieked as he plunged the beam saber into the destroyer's bridge. He fired the booster, slicing the ship in two, and burst out of its desiccated remains with a shriek of rage, leaping up over the carrier and into the second destroyer, slashing through to its keel and piercing the underside. As the ship began to list, Shinn tore his way out of its hull and charged at the carrier.

A trio of Daggers rose to stop him; Shinn plowed through them and slammed his beam saber into the side of the carrier's bridge, then fired his CIWS through the carrier's hull and into its power plant. The carrier began to explode; Shinn slashed his way through the tower and took off into the air.

Across the battlefield, in his ailing Windam, Neo watched in disbelief as the _James Monroe_ was split in two by a thunderous explosion.

"I can't believe it," Neo murmured. "All mobile suits, retreat at once! Repeat, all mobile suits, retreat at once!"

The Daggers turned tail and fled, as the Abyss retrieved the damaged Chaos and Gaia; Shinn watched them go, his fists trembling.

Darkness began to take over; Shinn closed his eyes, and the Impulse collapsed towards the ocean.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 18th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Indian Ocean**

"Is he awake yet?" Lunamaria asked. The doctor at the door of the infirmary shook his head.

"Shinn endured extreme mental trauma and severe physical stress," the doctor answered. "It's a wonder he didn't break any bones."

"Or the Impulse," Shiho snorted disgustedly at Lunamaria's side. "The Impulse can't move that fast under gravity. It's too dangerous, even for a Coordinator. What the hell was he thinking?"

"But he sank three ships, Commander," Lunamaria tried to remind Shiho sheepishly. Shiho sniffed dismissively.

"And he practically killed himself to do it," she shot back. "I bet his throat's sore too, from all that screaming he did."

Luna did not bother trying to respond to that; she still couldn't figure out what could have gotten Shinn so upset.

"I guess we'll try back later, doctor," she said quietly. Shiho sighed in frustration as they walked away.

"Lunamaria," she said, "you are Shinn's friend. Can you explain to me why he would do something so stupidly self-destructive?"

"Shinn just wanted to protect the ship," Luna answered quietly. "Or, so I guess. I don't know what had him so upset."

Shiho rubbed her temples. "He's a loose cannon," she said plainly. "He's always pulling stunts like this. It has to stop, for everyone's sake. As much as I am loathe to admit it, we need every pilot we can get, and he's no exception. If we get attacked again—"

"We will not be attacked again," Rey Za Burrel's voice interrupted as he stepped into Shiho's line of sight. Shiho and Luna stopped in surprise at the imposing figure before them. "Shinn destroyed three warships with a beam saber. The enemy will not want to fight him again."

Shiho eyed him suspiciously; Luna opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"Are you sure?" Shiho asked coldly. "If they do, that idiot has put himself out of commission, and we'll be one weaker if they do come back."

"They won't," Rey said. He narrowed his eyes at Shiho.

A moment later, Luna was aware of a distinct and terrifying feeling coming from Rey. She was not sure what it was, but some latent intuition made her shrink back fearfully from the imposing blonde boy. Shiho tried to stand up to that invisible terrifying power, but at last she broke.

Rey brushed past her wordlessly; Shiho and Luna watched him as he slipped silently into the infirmary.

——————————————————————————————————————————

When he finally awoke, Shinn Asuka felt blurriness all around him. Somewhere to his right, there was a strange point of pressure; but it was not painful and crushing. This pressure was cold, but familiar, calm, and soothing, like ice water on a hot day, jolting him with its sharpness but calming him and cooling him nonetheless.

Shinn struggled to open his eyes; Rey Za Burrel's ever-impassive face was there to greet him.

"R-Rey," Shinn murmured stumblingly, trying to sit up. Rey pressed him back into his bed.

"Don't move," he said. "You are still weakened."

"What happened?" Shinn moaned softly.

Rey stood up; Shinn at last realized that Rey had been kneeling by his side.

"Yesterday, you increased the Impulse's thruster output to a dangerously high level," Rey explained. "You then destroyed the Earth Alliance warships attacking _Minerva_ with the Impulse's beam saber, and blacked out. You have been lying here unconscious ever since."

"...that's not what I meant," Shinn mumbled. Rey was silent a moment, before he glanced at the nurse.

"I'll have to ask you to leave us," Rey said. "I will send for you if a problem arises."

"But—" the nurse began to sputter.

Rey's eyes flashed into a formidable glare. "I'll have to ask you to leave us," he repeated.

The nurse said no more and shuffled away. Once she had left, Rey returned his gaze to Shinn.

"You were screaming in rage," Rey continued. "You were upset by something. Do you want to know what it was?"

Shinn nodded weakly.

"You are a Newtype," Rey said with an edge of authority. "Your hypersensitivity to emotions has begun to manifest itself. As a result, you sensed the emotions of your enemies. You did not understand why you felt your enemy's emotions, and with the stresses of your enemies compounded upon your own, you snapped."

"Then...why did I feel so strange...when I killed people?" Shinn asked weakly.

Rey was silent another moment. "Emotions disappear when people are killed," Rey said. "That is why you sense the disappearance; that is why you feel strange; that is why you suffer." He knelt at Shinn's side. "And that is why you must fight, even though it makes you suffer. You must create a world where Newtypes like you no longer have to kill people."

"Rey..." Shinn murmured.

"The Chairman understands your pain," Rey said, "and he wishes to end it. He wants to create a world where Newtypes do not need to suffer the way you do. That is why you have to fight; you must suffer now and sacrifice now, in order to create a better future."

Shinn looked over at Rey with a dismal smile on his pale face. "Stop talking like a dying old man in a lousy drama," he said quietly. "How come I'm the only one who has to suffer? Aren't you fighting too?"

Rey stared into Shinn's eyes; Shinn's smile vanished.

"I have no future," Rey said. "My telomeres are short. My biological age is advancing faster than my chronological age." He blinked; Shinn caught a flicker of emotion in his hard blue eyes. "After all...I'm a clone."

Shinn blinked. "What?"

Rey stood up.

"You are the future," Rey said quietly. "You must make the Chairman's new world, for the sake of all of us. I cannot."

"Rey," Shinn said haltingly, struggling to sit up. "Don't talk like that. You can have a future too."

Rey turned away. "No, Shinn, I cannot," he said. He started towards the door. "Rest and recuperate," he added. "We have a few more days before we reach Socotra."

The door opened; Rey vanished through it; it slid shut again, and Shinn slumped back down against the bed, staring ruefully at the ceiling.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Rey walked rigidly towards his room, his face never betraying for an instant his feelings. But as soon as the door to his and Shinn's room shut, he fell to his knees as tears sprang from his eyes.

"Forgive me, Shinn," he said tremblingly. "You have to carry the burden for me...for Gil..."

He pounded the floor angrily as his tears fell.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	10. Phase 10: FAITH

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 10 - FAITH

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 20th, CE 73 - The White House, Washington DC, Atlantic Federation**

"This is impossible."

Lord Djibril stood in the Oval Office, looming over Joseph Copland's shoulder, glowering at the screen on his desk. Flashing across the screen was the combat recordings of ZAFT's Impulse Gundam against the Earth Alliance's Phantom Pain unit in the Indian Ocean. It was impossible to follow; the thing moved in a blur.

"This is why I had my doubts, Djibril," Copland said gravely. "The Coordinators are powerful, regardless of what you or anyone else says about them."

"Nonsense," Djibril scoffed. "It's only one mobile suit." He strode out towards the middle of the room. "And besides," he continued, "we are already developing mobile suits and mobile armors that far surpass anything that one mobile suit can do."

"This is the mobile suit that destroyed the Zamzazar at Orb," Copland protested. "It defeated Colonel Roanoke's Windam as well. It's not to be trifled with. This thing's pilot is a hero in the PLANTs."

"All the more reason to kill him, then," Djibril said with theatrical flair. "We shouldn't let the PLANTs have any heroes. They shouldn't have anyone to rally around." His face twisted into a scowl. "They have their beloved Chairman Dullindal anyways."

"And what do you think will be able to stand against a mobile suit with a pilot this skilled?" Copland shot back. "The _Girty Lue_ unit has been unable to destroy it after four engagements. It destroyed the Zamzazar; will the Gelzuge bring it down?"

"Of course not," Djibril sputtered. "What _will_ bring it down is our next generation of mobile suits. Once we start mass-producing the Windams, that Impulse will go down in flames."

"The war will not be won by churning out mobile suits," Copland countered. "We tried that in CE 71. It only worked partially, and only because ZAFT wasn't prepared to fight an enemy with mobile suit forces. We had the _Archangel_ to distract ZAFT then, too. We don't anymore."

"We don't have to," Djibril said, turning to face Copland with a devilish smile. "ZAFT has plans in the works to attack our Arzachel Crater base. My intelligence sources confirm it. They are still in the preliminary planning stages; we can mass-produce the Windams in secret at Arzachel, and when ZAFT arrives, we will unleash our new dogs of war on those insufferable sheep and tear them apart."

"You take too many gambles," Copland said disapprovingly. Djibril turned, looking out the window dramatically.

"Just start producing the Windams at Arzachel," he said. "All in due time, you will understand."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Indian Ocean, en route to Socotra, Yemen**

Once again, Shinn found himself on the deck of the _Minerva_, staring at the ocean, lost in thought; however, there was no Gilbert Dullindal around to accost him. All there was this time was the cool breeze of the ocean.

There was also, Shinn noticed, Lunamaria. She opened the hatch and stepped out awkwardly onto the deck, fully aware that Shinn was there.

"I see you're back on your feet," she said, offering a polite smile as she came up to his side. "That's good."

Shinn shrugged indifferently, still staring at the ocean. Luna looked at him helplessly; he wasn't even looking back at her. He wasn't betraying any emotion; Luna wondered how he could stand masking himself all the time.

"Why did you snap like that?" she asked suddenly. Shinn blinked and looked at her. "I mean, you ramped the Impulse's thrusters up way too far. You could've killed yourself."

Shinn stared at her for a moment, wondering if she'd understand. He doubted she would; she was full of emotions, but they were all positive emotions. It seemed like she never had to deal with negative emotions.

He chose not to answer her, and returned his gaze back to the ocean.

"Tell me, Shinn!" she insisted. "I don't want you to do that again! Next time you might not just black out!"

Shinn looked back at her again. He closed his eyes and turned around, leaning against the rail.

"Have you heard of something called Newtypes?" he asked quietly. Luna blinked.

"Newtypes?" she echoed. "No."

"They're supposed to be like psychics, the next step in human evolution," he explained. "They can perceive emotions and see the future and whatnot."

"So?" Luna asked bluntly. "What's that got to do with you?"

"Everyone seems to think I'm a Newtype," Shinn said. Luna blinked for a moment, before she smiled and laughed.

"That's ridiculous," she said. "Come on, Shinn, you're just an ordinary Coordinator. You're good at what you do and all, but that doesn't make you a step higher on the evolutionary ladder."

Shinn looked over at her. "It doesn't?"

"You're a human being, Newtype or not," she said. "You eat food, you drink water, you sleep, you breathe, you bleed when you're cut, you cry when you're sad, you laugh when you're happy. That's all there is to it."

"I guess so," Shinn said noncommittally, looking away. "That's all I want to be." He closed his eyes. "I don't want to be the future or a Newtype or anything. I just want to be an ordinary person."

Luna looked out at the sea. "I don't think any of us are ordinary people right now," she said forlornly. She looked back at Shinn and smiled again. "But we can try to be who we want to be after the war. Isn't that why we're fighting it?"

Shinn stared at the floor again. "I guess so," he repeated.

Luna sighed and leaned against the railing. "What are you going to do after the war, Shinn?"

Shinn looked at her a moment. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked.

Luna looked back at him with a smile. "Most decorated war veterans are supposed to find a nice girl and get married and have a bunch of kids."

Shinn blinked, a faint blush rising to his cheeks. "I don't want that," he muttered, looking away. Luna tried not to giggle.

"We have to have something we want to do after the war," Luna said, looking back out at the ocean again. "Or else we'll forget what we're fighting for."

Shinn stared at the floor and said nothing. He could hear Rey again, telling Shinn that he had no future. He closed his eyes shamefully; for Shinn Asuka, there might be an "after the war," but for Rey Za Burrel...

Shinn leaned back against the rail, looking back at Luna. "I'm more worried about what happens now," he said. "I can worry about what I do after the war when the war is over."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 21st, CE 73 - Socotra Naval Installation, Yemen, Muslim League**

The _Minerva_ lumbered into port at Socotra Naval Installation, under the direction of ZAFT's allies in the Muslim League. Sitting on the bridge, Talia watched as the _Minerva_ backed slowly into the dock.

Socotra Naval Installation was an enormous fortified island off the coast of Yemen, on the southern edge of the Arab peninsula. Nearby was the entrance to the Red Sea, where the _Minerva_ and its two _Vosgulov_ companions would have to sail in order to reach the Suez Canal, and the bitter battle being fought there.

The _Minerva_ shuddered as it slid into place in the dock; Talia left the final directions to Arthur as she settled into the bridge chair.

She did not have long of a wait. A short while later, the bridge doors opened, and a tall, brawny man in a ZAFT Black Shirt uniform strode in, with two Green Shirt guards by his side. Talia rose as he offered a quick salute and handshake.

"Welcome to Socotra, Captain Gladys," he said, shaking her hand vigorously. "I'm Joachim Radul, the ZAFT liaison to the Muslim League. I'm glad you've come."

"We had a little tangle with the Alliance in the Indian Ocean," Talia said disdainfully. "The _Saint Augustine_ and a quarter of our mobile suits were lost."

"So I've heard," Radul said grimly. "Nevertheless, the reinforcements you've brought with you will be of great help. The Earth Alliance has captured the Suez Canal with the help of a Separatist movement within the Muslim League; they have requested our assistance in retaking the canal." He paused. "ZAFT has dispatched me with the land battleships _Desmond_ and _Bagley_. I'll be on the _Desmond_; we'll go with you to make up for the _Saint Augustine_ and help you retake the canal."

Talia glanced down at Arthur. "When we will be departing, then?" she asked. Radul checked his watch.

"My men will be ready to depart at dawn tomorrow," he said.

"Very well," Talia said. "Until then." She saluted; Radul saluted back and excused himself. Talia turned to face the bridge. "Arthur, go back over the combat checks. We still have work to do."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Indian Ocean**

Night had fallen; the _Girty Lue_'s bridge was silent, as all eyes stared at the screen.

"I wonder what they're trying to prove with this little venture," Neo Roanoke commented with a sarcastic smile, sitting back.

On the screen was a collection of dim shapes on the water and in the air; it was a fleet from the South African Union, steaming steadily towards the Muslim League's major naval installation on the island of Socotra, off the coast of Somalia. By all standards, the fleet was enormous; thirty _Spengler_-class carriers, escorted by almost two hundred smaller ships, and dozens of heavy cargo planes overhead, all filled to bursting with mobile suits. It all comprised the majority of the South African Union's military might; it was all rumbling steadily towards Socotra. Even if its mobile suits were largely outdated Strike Daggers, the men on the _Girty Lue_ couldn't see how one naval base, belonging to a nation with subpar military might, could hope to stand up to such an armada.

"Socotra is where the _Minerva_ went, isn't it?" Lee observed.

Neo nodded. "And the _Minerva_ had three submarines with it as well. Auel sunk one of them, but the other two managed to get away." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But what are they trying to prove?"

"The South African Union resents the Muslim League and the African Community both for taking territory," Lee offered. "We're already invading the African Community. I suppose they're trying to take revenge on the Muslim League, then."

"And, of course, the _Minerva_ is there," Neo added. "I guess bringing President Copland the _Minerva_ is the best proof one can get of why the South African Union is worth keeping in the Alliance."

"Shall we support them, then?" Lee asked. Neo smirked.

"No," he snorted amusedly. "We'll watch the _Minerva_ chew them up and spit them out."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 22nd, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Socotra Naval Installation, Yemen, Muslim League**

Shinn yelped in surprise as a deafening roar and a violent explosion threw him out of his bed and onto the floor. He scrambled to his feet, eyes wide, and looked at Rey.

Rey was already at the intercom, staring at Meyrin's bleary, frightened face.

"What's happening?!" Rey asked, calm as ever, as the _Minerva_ quaked.

"I don't know!" Meyrin exclaimed; behind her, Talia rushed onto the bridge, her hat in hand and her collar not yet buttoned up. "Someone is attacking!"

"Go to Condition Red!" Talia shouted. "All mobile suits, prepare to launch! Arthur, what the hell is going on?!"

Rey shut off the intercom and looked back at Shinn. "Get dressed," he said curtly, turning towards the closet.

Shinn threw on his uniform in record time, sprinting out of his room with Rey and towards the mobile suit hangar. It was dawn and the sun was just beginning to rise outside; trails of smoke wafted up from the Socotra base, and Shinn paused as the _Minerva_ rocked again, nearly throwing him and Rey off their feet.

"This is a major attack," Rey murmured, steadying himself against the wall. Outside, Rey and Shinn watched as an olive-brown GINN belonging to the Muslim League fired up into the air with its machinegun; a beam shot from above blew off its right arm, and before it could react, another blast pierced its chest and destroyed it.

"Come on," Rey said, grabbing Shinn by the arm and pulling him forward. "We'll have to help them fight back."

Shinn and Rey reached the hangar as quickly as they could; already, Shiho's Savior Gundam was being loaded onto the catapult.

"What the hell is going on?!" Shinn shouted at Vino, as Rey sprinted towards his ZAKU Phantom.

"I don't know! Just get in the Impulse and shoot whatever looks like a Dagger!" Vino answered, pushing him towards the Impulse's catapult.

Shinn leapt into the Core Splendor's cockpit, not bothering to waste time climbing into his flight suit. He strapped himself in; his fingers flew over the controls, as the elevator began to rise and the fighter came to life.

"Meyrin," he said, as her timid face appeared on the screen, "what's going on?!"

"The Earth Alliance is attacking," she said hurriedly. "They're everywhere, and the Muslim League is requesting our help!"

"Understood," Shinn said quickly, moving to cut the communication.

"Wait!" she exclaimed; Shinn blinked in surprise. "Just...just be careful this time!"

"Meyrin—" Shinn began.

"Just promise you'll be careful this time!" Meyrin pleaded.

Shinn watched her carefully for a moment; she stared back with shimmering, teary, blinking eyes.

"Alright," Shinn said at last. He looked out ahead as the Impulse's catapult activated. "Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, going out!"

The Core Splendor lurched forward; Shinn narrowed his eyes at the battle ahead as the Core Splendor lifted off.

As he docked the Impulse's parts and formed the Force Impulse, Shinn scanned the battlefield. An imposing fleet of the Earth Alliance lay arrayed before the island of Socotra; the fleet was attacking mostly with aging Strike Daggers, but the Muslim League's mobile suits were mostly surplus GINNs that ZAFT had sold to them, and were having a difficult time against the still-superior Strike Daggers.

The Impulse's eyes flashed; Shinn charged into the fray with a scream.

The attackers had come prepared with a cadre of Jet Dagger Ls; Shinn charged at them, firing his beam rifle and taking one of them down before the others could attack. He winced as the feeling of death returned again, but shoved it aside with sheer willpower; he had to suffer, like Rey had said, in order to create a world where he _wouldn't_ have to suffer. The Dagger Ls split up; Shinn charged after a squadron as they went streaking down towards the _Minerva_.

The three Daggers split up; Shinn dove beneath the bazooka shot of the first and shot the bazooka out of its hand, diving underneath it as it floundered for balance. He dove back up into the air and kicked the beam carbine out of the second Dagger's hand, then deflected the third's shot with his shield. He dove away as the three Daggers backed away; the second drew its beam saber and charged.

"Don't do that!" Shinn shouted. "Just give up!"

The Dagger swept in to attack; Shinn smacked its saber arm aside with his shield and pierced its torso with a beam rifle shot. The Dagger collapsed towards the ocean and exploded; Shinn dove up into the air, growling. "I warned you!"

The other two Daggers swept in with their beam carbines; Shinn dove beneath both of them and shot them both down. He turned away from the blasts and found the Jet Dagger Ls storming towards the island, firing missiles at the mobile suits on the ground and attacking the Muslim League's olive-brown DINNs. Down below, Luna's red ZAKU fired its beam cannon down at the beach and the Strike Daggers parachuting onto it; two of them were blown away, but more mobile suits were there to fire back at her, forcing her back along with the Muslim League GINNs.

More Dagger Ls came streaking towards Shinn; he dove backwards, firing his beam rifle and taking cover behind his shield. Two Daggers went down in flames; Shinn charged at them, hoping to catch them off guard, but one of them fired a bazooka shot that knocked his beam rifle out of his hand. Drawing his beam saber instead, he dove into their ranks and managed to slash one in half before the other two could dodge.

"Stop fighting us!" Shinn shouted at them, as he wheeled around a second time to face the remaining Daggers. The Daggers charged, opening fire and forcing Shinn back. "Dammit!"

The Savior shot by overhead, delivering a plasma cannon volley that wiped out two more Daggers; the majority of the attackers peeled off to follow the Savior. Shinn pulled back behind his shield as the remaining Daggers opened fire again.

"_Minerva_, Meyrin, Blast Silhouette!" Shinn shouted. He charged into the Daggers' faces one last time; he caught two of them off guard and cut them both in two, but the survivors pulled back, firing again and forcing him to pull back again.

The Blast Silhouette came rocketing up into the air; Shinn ejected the Force Silhouette and shot it down with his CIWS, blinding the Daggers in front of him, and attached the Blast Silhouette. As gravity began to pull the Impulse down, Shinn fired a storm of missiles into the Daggers' ranks, and clenched his teeth as he watched four of them collapse towards the ocean in flames.

The Blast Impulse landed on the water; Shinn fired the thrusters, and the Impulse rocketed forward, skimming over the water's surface as the Daggers tried to stop him. He darted out of the path of their shots and fired his railguns back up at them, disarming two of them and forcing the others to pull back. Before they could return Shinn's fire, the Muslim League's DINNs and the Savior Gundam swept in to attack.

Shinn darted across the water, arming the Blast Silhouette's weapons, and looked across the battlefield at the enemy fleet, as it poured firepower into the base. The closest target was a destroyer on the perimeter of the battlefield, firing away at the _Minerva_; Shinn fired at the destroyer's hull with his beam cannons, slicing through it in one blow; bursts of fire tore it apart, and Shinn winced as the feeling of death once again returned in spades.

"I can't let it slow me down now," he grunted, as the water rocked from the destroyer's explosion. He took off towards another ship, a carrier this time; it fired back with a beam cannon on its bow, but Shinn darted aside and perforated the carrier's bow with railgun shells. The top of the bow section exploded; Shinn fired the booster and jumped up onto the carrier's deck, firing both beam cannons into the ship. As the ship began to list, he raised one cannon and blew away the bridge tower, and then leapt off and took off again, as the carrier exploded as well.

By now a formation of Daggers had realized what Shinn was up to and was storming back towards the fleet after him; Shinn glowered up at them through the smoke from the broken carrier as it sank. The Daggers opened fire; Shinn darted aside, firing back with his beam cannons to take down two more Daggers, and he swept in behind one of the Alliance destroyers to prevent the Daggers from firing. He fired both beam cannons into the destroyer's stern, blowing apart its engine, and the ship lurched forward in the water. Shinn darted aside again, firing his beam cannons into the Dagger squadron's ranks and taking down another pair of Daggers.

"Shit," Shinn grunted, racing backwards as the Daggers' shots splashed into the sea in front of him. "They're everywhere!"

A Dagger toting a bazooka swept in over the water, firing a swarm of missiles; Shinn cut them down with a CIWS burst and blasted the bazooka out of the Dagger's hand with his railguns. Another Dagger swept in as well with a beam carbine; Shinn saw his opening and charged between them, drawing his beam javelins, and with a shriek of metal torn like paper, sliced both mobile suits in half. Replacing his beam javelins with the beam cannons, Shinn took off again, aiming for a small destroyer and blowing it apart with a single beam cannon shot. The Daggers fired again; Shinn blazed along the water, dodging their shots. The Muslim League mobile suits were starting to push back the invaders at the beach; however, the Alliance forces were still too overwhelming.

Shinn resolved to provide enough of a distraction among the fleet to allow his comrades time to regroup; he fired a beam cannon shot into another destroyer's hull and stormed up to it, slicing it open with a beam javelin and blasting into the ship's hull. He tore open the ship from the inside, ripping his way out through the ship's center and landing on the water with a crash and a blast of exhaust. He took off again, deflecting a Dagger's beam shot with his shield.

"Shinn!" he heard Shiho's voice shout. "Shinn, where are you?!"

"Cover me!" Shinn cried, blazing along the water and dodging more beam fire from above. "I'll distract the Alliance troops here!"

"What?!" Shiho exclaimed; overhead, the Savior deflected a beam shot and shot down the attacking Dagger. "Shinn, are you—"

"Just cover me!" Shinn yelled. The Blast Impulse wheeled around and shot down another Dagger with its beam cannons, and then darted to the side, blowing another two Daggers out of the sky with its railguns. "Shit," he grunted as the Impulse rocked; the Daggers swept in, beam carbines blazing. Shinn pulled back, firing missiles, but the Daggers kept coming. One of them slid in behind the Impulse; Shinn gasped in disbelief as it raised a beam saber in triumph—

The Dagger froze as a long metallic whip curled tightly around its arm. The whip flashed bright red and snapped the Dagger's arm off; an instant later, something flashed past the Dagger, slicing it in half, and it exploded. An orange blur slashed into the Dagger's ranks, cutting down two of them, and the rest pulled back. Shinn stared in shock at his rescuer.

The mobile suit was bright orange, faintly resembling a ZAKU; this machine, however, had its shield on its left forearm, with a long double-bladed beam sword in its right hand, and a black and white flight pack on its back. It turned to face Shinn; Shinn saw a stylized black, white, and red letter H on its shield, and the insignia of FAITH on its left shoulder.

The unknown mobile suit pulled back next to Shinn.

"So," a voice said, "you're the Impulse kid."

"Who are you?" Shinn asked quietly, watching the orange mobile suit suspiciously.

The Savior stormed in with a plasma cannon blast, and three Dagger Ls exploded in midair. "Shinn, who is this?!" Shiho demanded. The orange mobile suit straightened up to look at the Savior.

"I will introduce myself after the battle, Commander," the pilot said coolly. "Right now we have more important things to worry about!"

The orange mobile suit took off, brandishing its beam sword, and charged at the Daggers; Shinn grunted and took off as well, blazing along the water. He fired his beam cannons at a pair of Jet Dagger Ls trying to take off from the open launch hatches of another carrier; the shots drilled through the Dagger's chests; they exploded, blowing open the carrier's hangar bay. Shinn leapt into the opening and pounded a beam cannon salvo into the carrier's innards; he blasted his way out as the carrier exploded.

"Not bad, Asuka!" the orange mobile suit's pilot remarked amusedly. "I can see why you won the Order of the Nebula!" Up above, the orange mobile suit used its glowing whip to slash a Dagger in two; it swiveled around and fired a storm of tiny beam bolts from its right arm at another Dagger, blowing it out of the sky and sending it crashing in flames into the ocean.

The Savior skimmed in along the water in mobile armor mode, shooting down a pair of Daggers as they moved in to attack Shinn. "Don't be too reckless, Shinn!" Shiho yelled. The Savior rocketed into the air, transforming back into mobile suit mode, and shot down another Dagger with its beam rifle as it pulled up into the air.

Shinn took off over the water again, diving towards another destroyer, and shot through its hull in the stern with his beam cannons. As the destroyer broke into two pieces, he slipped into its wreckage, diving beneath a storm of missiles from the Daggers. They were intensifying their defense of the fleet; in the meantime, the Muslim League's DINNs were beginning to rally a counterattack. The sun was rising high; Shinn darted out of his hiding place, shooting down a pair of Daggers as he raced along the water.

Another light destroyer exploded; the orange mobile suit burst out of the flames, beam sword held high, and shot down another Dagger with another beam gun volley. It stormed forward towards the fallen Dagger's wingman, slashing it in half with its glowing whip, and took off again.

Shinn fired a beam cannon volley into the air to shoot down another Dagger as he raced towards another destroyer. The destroyer turned its gun on the Impulse; Shinn darted to the side, dodging its desperate shots, and fired a railgun volley to blow its main gun apart. He fired a pair of beam cannon shots into its bow and leapt up, landing on the destroyer's deck and pumping two more shots into its hull.

The ship began to explode; Shinn took off into the air, shooting down two more startled Dagger Ls. He landed with another flash of exhaust and took off along the water, glancing up at the sky. The Muslim League's mobile suits were making full advantage of the chaos the Impulse was causing among the ships; another destroyer buckled under a barrage of missiles and machinegun fire from a DINN squadron, and the vessel burst into flames as it slid lifelessly into the water.

Shinn took aim at yet another destroyer, but a moment later, the ships began to fire flares into the air; Shinn narrowed his eyes as he realized they were signaling a retreat. A moment later, Meyrin's face appeared on his screen.

"Shinn," she began quietly, looking fearfully at his sweaty, haggard face. "The Alliance fleet is retreating, Shinn. You can come back to the _Minerva_ now."

Shinn let out his breath and wiped the sweat from his brow. The Alliance ships were desperately trying to turn around, as the mobile suits fled; the Blast Impulse turned and rocketed back to the dock.

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The Blast Impulse returned to cheers from the mechanics in the _Minerva_'s hangar; Shinn uneasily guided the Impulse to a rest and lowered himself to the hangar floor on the zip line. Immediately he was surrounded in a surge of bodies.

"That was incredible, Shinn!" Vino exclaimed, falling all over himself to reach Shinn. "You took out seven ships!"

"It was amazing!" Yolant added, throwing his arms victoriously around Shinn.

Shinn took it all in blankly; he had just done his job.

The crowd parted, and Yolant and Vino let go of Shinn, for a man in an orange ZAFT flight suit with the FAITH insignia on his chest. He pulled off his helmet and shook his head, his orange hair flying; he stepped towards Shinn, extending his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Shinn Asuka," he said, smiling disarmingly. "I'm Heine Westenfluss. I've been assigned to the _Minerva_ by the Chairman."

"The Chairman?" Shinn echoed.

"Yes," Heine answered. "You gonna shake or what?"

Shinn sputtered in surprise and hastily shook his hand.

"I can see your reputation is well-deserved," he said, taking a step away and tucking his helmet under his arm. "Fighting like that will win the war."

Heine saluted; Shinn saluted back after a moment's hesitation, and Heine turned and walked away. Shinn let out his breath, and as the mechanics began to disperse, Vino leapt in front of him, eyes alight in excitement.

"That was incredible out there, Shinn!" he said. "You'll _have_ to win another Order of the Nebula!"

Shinn waved them off and headed for the locker room.

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"FAITH?" Talia echoed in disbelief.

Heine Westenfluss stood before her on the bridge of the _Minerva_, in his red uniform with the shiny emblem of FAITH on his lapel; in his hand he held a briefcase and a pair of identical emblems. At his side, Shiho stood in equal disbelief.

"For both of you," he said, offering one of the badges to Shiho. "You have both been appointed to FAITH."

"B-But why?" Shiho sputtered, taking the box in her hands and staring at the badge with wide eyes.

"Why does the Chairman want us both in FAITH?" Talia asked, staring sternly at Heine.

Heine stared back for a moment. "I am only carrying out the Chairman's orders," he said stiffly. "I am not in a position to judge his actions."

"Nobody is," Talia muttered scornfully under her breath.

"Your assignments remain the same," Heine continued, a hint of a smug smile playing at his lips. "as does this ship's mission. My orders are to join the _Minerva_ crew for the duration of this ship's tour of duty and assist you in your missions."

Talia watched him for a moment. "Very well," she said carefully. "Then under my authority as this ship's captain, as well as under my authority as a member of FAITH, I will expect you to defer to my judgment and act under my orders."

Heine blinked in surprise, caught off guard. Talia fought down the overwhelming feeling of satisfaction at having hit Gilbert's attack dog where he least expected it—Heine would still be around on the ship, and that presented a danger.

She clipped her FAITH badge onto her uniform and turned around. "Arthur, tell the crews to hurry with the repairs," she said authoritatively, before Heine could say anything. "Heine, you are dismissed."

Heine ground his teeth angrily, and saluted rigidly, before he stalked out of the bridge. Shiho watched him go in confusion, and then looked back down at her FAITH emblem.

"Captain," she began uneasily, "if I'm in FAITH too, does the same apply to me?"

Talia nodded. "Continue to command our mobile suit team as you always have, Heine included," she said. "And keep an eye on Heine."

Shiho saluted. "Yes ma'am." She excused herself, and Talia slid into the captain's chair, her face darkening.

_Gilbert...what are you trying to do now?_

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Shinn had tried to escape to his room, but that had proved futile; sooner or later, Lunamaria had ushered him out into the crew lounge, and with escape now impossible, Shinn sat in boredom as people around him gushed over his performance in battle; Rey sat nearby, watching Shinn carefully. Shinn did not feel like the messiah that everyone was treating him as; all he had done was his job, protecting the _Minerva_, and he had simply done so by attacking the Earth Alliance fleet.

The pilots jumped to their feet and saluted; Shinn blinked and glanced over his shoulder. Shiho and Heine were walking into the room; Shinn wearily got to his feet and saluted as well."What's all this?" Heine asked, arching an eyebrow at the scene. He looked over at Shiho.

"I'm the commander of this ship's mobile suit team," Shiho explained. "I enforce discipline among my subordinates."

"Discipline?" Heine echoed. "What do we need discipline for? We're Coordinators, we don't need discipline!" He motioned towards the three pilots. "Come over here, all three of you."

Rey, Shinn, and Luna stepped forward. Heine's eyebrow arched again.

"We're all ZAFT Reds! How about that?" He nodded to Shinn and turned to face Lunamaria, smiling charmingly. "And how do _you_ do, Miss?"

Luna blinked in surprise, a hint of a blush rising on her cheeks; Shinn watched Heine carefully.

"What's with all the tension?" Heine asked, gesturing to the three pilots. "See what happens when you discipline your team too much, Shiho? How can we hope to work together on the battlefield if we have such a hard time standing together in the same room?"

"But Commander Westenfluss—" Luna began. Heine cut her off, shaking his head.

"None of that 'commander' crap," he said. "I'm Heine, you're Luna, Shiho's over there, there's Rey, and that's Shinn. That's how we're going to be. We're a team; that's what sets us apart from the Naturals." He turned to face everyone. "The Naturals _need_ discipline, to keep themselves focused. We're better than that. We're the Coordinators; we're _superior_."

Shinn felt a sensation of discomfort rising through him as Heine spoke. Just what he needed—another thing to make him _special_.

"The last thing we need is to be building walls around each other," Heine continued. "We have to get along off the battlefield in order to be effective on the battlefield."

"Of course," Shiho answered, with a hint of a glare at Heine.

"Now then," Heine went on, "with formalities out of the way, we'll have to get down to business." He glanced at Shiho. "I will be the new second-in-command of this ship's mobile suit team. Sorry Rey, you've been knocked down a peg."

Rey was impassive as he nodded.

"We are still heading to the Suez Canal," Shiho said. "Despite Captain Gladys and my appointments to FAITH, and Heine's presence, our mission remains the same."

Heine looked over at Shinn. "I look forward to seeing you in action again, Shinn."

Shinn hesitated a moment. He already hated Heine. "I won't disappoint."

Heine smiled.

"Of course you won't."

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**October 23rd, CE 73 - Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Red Sea**

"What do you mean we're not going to Suez?!" Sting shouted.

They were on the mobile suit deck; Neo stood on the gantry to the cockpit of his Windam, arms crossed, with Lee at his side and Sting standing in front him. The mechanics stopped their work, watching tensely the fight that was sure to break out.

"I mean exactly what I said," Neo answered calmly. "We've been ordered to pass by the Suez Canal and ambush the _Minerva_ in the Mediterranean Ocean."

"But they're going to the Suez Canal!" Sting protested. "They're going to fight there, you even said so yourself! Why aren't we going to fight them there?!"

"Because they kicked our asses the last time," Neo shot back. "We're going to wait, and restore our strength; then we will attack the _Minerva_ when they are weakened from fighting at Suez."

"That damned combiner beat me once!" Sting growled. "I'm not going to let it go without a fight!"

Neo scowled.

"We have been ordered to ambush the _Minerva_ in the Mediterranean. We will obey those orders." A shadow fell over his face. "After all, we all have to make up for your _failure_."

Sting's eyes went wide; Lee started forward.

"Colonel, that was unnecessary," he growled. Neo snorted in disgust.

"It always is with you, Lee," he snapped back. "You're too damn soft." He turned to leave. "Take him back to his maintenance bed."

"I didn't fail..." Sting murmured, falling to his knees, clutching his head in pain. "I can't fail..."

Neo disappeared down the gantry; Lee growled to himself and went to Sting's side.

"I can't fail," Sting murmured, his eyes wide and bloodshot, his entire body trembling. "If I fail...then...I'll..."

"Your defeat in the Indian Ocean was not your fault," Lee said, trying to help Sting to his feet. "You didn't fail."

"I didn't fail," Sting repeated quietly. He was shaking violently; Lee struggled to get him back on his feet, and glanced at the mechanics. Two of them moved in to help Sting up. "I can't fail...if I fail, then...if I fail, then I..."

"You didn't fail," Lee repeated. "The Colonel is displeased with the results of the battle, but the results were not your fault. You did your duty as best you could."

"If I fail," Sting murmured, as Lee and the mechanics dragged him down the gantry. "If I fail...if I fail, then..."

The mechanics tried to move him, but Sting refused to walk; Lee tried to keep Sting on his feet.

"Then they'll kill me!" Sting shrieked, collapsing to his knees and pounding the gantry in anguish.

Lee looked up at the door Neo had left through, and scowled.

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**October 25th, CE 73 - Socotra Naval Installation, Yemen, Muslim League**

The two _Vosgulov_ submarines had already launched; the _Lesseps_-class land battleship _Desmond_ and the _Petrie_-class _Bagley_ were already waiting at the harbor mouth. All that remained was for the famous _Minerva_ to launch.

On the bridge of the _Desmond_, Joachim Radul had a glass of red wine in hand as he watched the _Minerva_ lumber out of port.

"So they're coming with us after all," he said to himself. "Even after the battle the other day, and the FAITH appointments."

"Of course they are," the _Desmond_'s XO said. "They're crucial to the Muslim League's success there."

"They're rookies, though," Radul countered. He took a sip of his wine. "So they've fought a few battles against the Alliance, and that kid in the Impulse took out a mobile armor and a bunch of ships. That's not the kind of battle they're heading into."

"What do you mean?" the XO asked. Radul sighed.

"They're about to run right into the face of two enemies who truly, thoroughly, completely hate each other. Something far scarier than the Naturals and Coordinators. The Separatists would rather die than let the Muslim League control what was once Israel; the Muslim League would rather die than let them have it back. The Separatists and the Muslim League will do _anything _to each other in battle. The _Minerva_'s crew has never seen anything like this." He took a second sip. "They're going to find out what war is really all about."

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To be continued...


	11. Phase 11: The Power to Kill

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

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Phase 11 - The Power to Kill

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**October 27th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Suez Canal, Egypt, Muslim League**

In the waters of the Red Sea were two _Vosgulov_ submarines, cutting through the water like sharks; on their decks stood a battalion of DINNs. Behind them was a _Lesseps_-class land battleship, and at the _Lesseps_' side was a _Petrie_-class, gliding smoothly over the water. Both ships' decks were packed with ZAFT mobile suits.

Hovering above them both, wings spread for battle, was the _Minerva_.

"Shield the bridge," Talia Gladys ordered. "All hands, go to Condition Red. This ship will now begin engaging the enemy."

In the _Minerva_'s central catapult, Shinn Asuka sat in the Core Splendor, staring out ahead. The battle was already raging; the olive-brown Muslim League mobile suits were attacking an army of Eurasian Federation Dagger Ls and camouflage-painted ZAFT mobile suits that clearly belonged to the Separatists. Towers of smoke rose over the battlefield already; the guns boomed, and up ahead, a Muslim League GINN went down in flames and exploded. An Earth Alliance fleet had the northern passage blocked off; the Separatists had mined the southern passage. The Muslim League troops were concentrating their attack from the east, but the combined Alliance and Separatist forces were steadily forcing them back.

"Shinn," Shiho's voice started; Shinn glanced disdainfully at the screen. "Launch with the Sword parts and attack the Separatists directly."

"I'll go with you," Heine added, his face appearing on the screen next to Shiho's. "Rey and Luna will be on Guuls, covering us from the air."

"Roger," Shinn answered quietly. The catapult activated; Shinn braced himself. "Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, going out!"

The Core Splendor streaked out; Shinn formed the Sword Impulse effortlessly and took off towards the battlefield. The Separatists were against the Canal; at the mobile suits' feet, there were soldiers, but Shinn couldn't tell what they were doing. The Separatists were so far too distracted fighting the Muslim League troops to see him coming; Shinn tensed and fired the booster.

The Impulse landed with a crash in an open spot in the Separatist lines; he slammed his shield into the torso of the nearest mobile suit; the stricken GINN went staggering back, and Shinn delivered a finishing kick to its face to knock it into the canal. He swung around and fired his beam rifle at an oncoming BuCUE; the mobile suit collapsed forward, skidding through the sand and exploding.

A GINN rose up behind the Impulse, sword upraised; Shinn moved to swing around and take it down, but a flurry of beam bolts took it down next, and as it collapsed to the side and exploded, the GOUF Ignited slammed down with a crash, beam sword ready.

"Having fun already, are you, Shinn?" Heine chuckled. Another GINN came storming in, stabbing with its sword; Heine ducked beneath the blow and stabbed the GINN in the cockpit with his beam sword. The GINN collapsed into the canal, and Heine took cover behind his shield as machinegun fire pelted the GOUF.

Shinn charged through the face of the machinegun fire and shot down two more GINNs before they could react. A blaze of missiles slammed down around the Impulse, blowing a cloud of sand into the air; Shinn's eyes widened as a dim sensation pricked at the back of his mind. He saw a BuCUE charging towards him with an ignited beam saber; he fired forwards, and there was an explosion, parting the sand cloud. Shinn blinked in surprise at the wreckage of a BuCUE. Another BuCUE and a GINN charged at him, but the BUCUE was taken down by a storm of beam bolts, and the GOUF charged in to slash the GINN in two.

"Follow me, Shinn!" Heine shouted. The GOUF took off into the air, slashing a Separatist GINN in two as it went; Shinn followed on the ground, leaping over another BuCUE and spearing it on a beam rifle shot. The feeling of death was all around him, but there was something else there; an anger, a hatred, something that made him feel sick.

Up ahead, a Muslim League GINN stormed in with drawn sword to stab a Separatist GINN in the cockpit. It drew the sword out; the blade was stained red. A moment later, a beam shot blasted the Muslim League GINN apart. Overhead, a pair of Jet Dagger Ls flashed through the sky. Shinn cursed under his breath and leapt into the air; the Daggers swung around for another pass. Shinn narrowed his eyes at them and hurled a beam boomerang at them both; one of the Daggers was sliced in half, the other lost its right arm. Shinn landed back on the ground with a crash and spun around to shoot down the damaged Dagger and catch his boomerang.

In the sky, Heine charged at a pair of Dagger Ls; they both tried to shoot him down with bazookas, but he dove between their shots and slashed them both in half. The GOUF took off towards a massive concrete building straddling the canal; in the center was a giant gate, and the entire construct had the appearance of a military installation. The Separatists were defending it fiercely; the Alliance was covering them from the air.

Inside the Sword Impulse, Shinn looked up into the air. Up above was an Alliance cargo plane; the hatch was open, and a squadron of Doppelhorn Dagger Ls was in the process of parachuting out. Shinn leapt up into the air, firing the booster and aiming for the plane's open hatch. The Daggers looked up in surprise as Shinn dove into the plane and fired a single beam shot into the plane's innards. The middle of the plane began to explode; Shinn dropped out, switching to his anti-ship swords and slashing two of the descending Daggers in half as he fell. The remaining Daggers opened fire; Shinn dove beneath their shots and hurled both his beam boomerangs at them, taking down another three Daggers. He landed next to the canal with a crash and impaled a Separatist GINN on one of his anti-ship swords. The Impulse turned to face the gate.

Down below, there were people with machineguns, wearing camouflage outfits and bulletproof vests, running towards the building.

_Who are they?_ he wondered. Machinegun fire pelted the Impulse; Shinn turned and cleaved another Separatist GINN in half. He took off into the air, leaping up to the top of the thick concrete gate. It was wide enough for a mobile suit to easily stand on, and that was exactly what several Separatist mobile suits were doing. Shinn landed with a crash on the top of the gate, and delivered a punishing roundhouse kick to the nearest mobile suit. The stricken GINN staggered to the side and collapsed into the canal with a splash; Shinn charged, swords upraised, and hacked through a second GINN. The third came storming into his face with its sword drawn back; Shinn ducked beneath its clumsy swing and slashed it in half with one of his anti-ship swords. The fourth GINN came at him with a sword in its left hand; Shinn stopped its blow with the Impulse's left arm and shoved the GINN into the water. He returned the sword in the Impulse's left hand to the Sword Silhouette pack as another GINN came charging at him, sword raised high for a downward blow. Shinn caught the GINN's arm with his left hand and hurled the mobile suit into the canal.

On the other end of the canal, a GINN was marching towards the gatehouse with a pair of Dagger Ls. The GINN held a large box-looking object; Shinn opened fire with his CIWS, tearing the object apart.

The GINN and the Daggers vanished in a thunderous explosion; Shinn blinked in surprise as the gate shook and the Impulse rattled.

"Shit!" Heine shouted; the GOUF leapt in out of the sky, cutting a Separatist DINN in half as it stormed by. "Shinn, they're trying to cave the gate in and block the canal! Stop them!"

Shinn cursed under his breath and took off towards the Separatists.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Savior rattled under a volley of machinegun fire; Shiho grunted and pulled back, abandoning her attack on the Earth Alliance fleet on the northern passage of the Suez Canal. In mobile armor mode, the Savior rocketed away over the canal, shooting down a pair of Jet Dagger Ls in the process. The Separatists below were mounting fierce resistance; even with the addition of the ZAFT mobile suits, the Muslim League forces were having a hard time breaking through.

"Commander Hahnenfuss," Talia's voice started; Shiho glanced to her screen, finding Talia's dour face there. "The _Minerva_ will attack the enemy fleet from the air. You go down to the canal gate; the Separatists are trying to blow it up."

"They're what?!" Shiho exclaimed. The Savior took off towards the canal gate, dodging beam fire from the Daggers. Shiho cursed under her breath, diving beneath a volley of missiles and machinegun fire from the Separatists below. Up ahead, Shiho could see the Sword Impulse fighting viciously with the Separatists on the west bank of the canal. In the air, the GOUF Ignited was trying to support Shinn, but they were vastly outnumbered.

Shiho narrowed her eyes and charged into the fray with a plasma cannon volley; two DINNs and a Dagger went down in flames, and the Savior transformed in midair, pouring beam rifle fire into the GINN ranks. Another squadron of Daggers swept in, beam carbines blazing, and Shiho pulled back behind her shield.

On the ground, Shinn drew his beam rifle; a moment later, railgun shells from a BuCUE punched through it. Shinn hurled the sparking weapon into the BuCUE's face, and followed it up with a stab from one of his anti-ship swords. He drew both swords and connected them, interposing himself between the Separatists and the gatehouse.

"You aren't taking this thing out!" Shinn shouted at them. "Not while I'm here!" The Separatists charged anyways; the GOUF swept down above them, spraying beam bolts into their ranks, and three of the mobile suits went down in flames.

One of the GINNs charged at Shinn and leapt into the air, over his head; Shinn thrust his anti-ship sword into the air, slicing the GINN's right arm and leg off, but the rest of the GINN sailed into the gatehouse. Shinn hurled both his beam boomerangs at the rest of the Separatists and turned to deal with the fallen GINN, but he had barely turned around before the hatch had opened.

The pilot was a boy who couldn't have been any older than Shinn; Shinn watched in wide eyes as the boy leapt out of the fallen GINN's cockpit, holding a switch into the air. Shinn's jaw dropped in disbelief as he realized what the switch was, but it was too late; the boy threw the switch, and a moment later, the GINN exploded in a thunderous fireball.

Shinn grunted as the Impulse quaked. "He self-destructed! I can't believe it!"

Another GINN came storming at him, arms spread, and Shinn barely stopped it with its shield, forcing it back. It too exploded with a roar; Shinn was sent staggering back in disbelief.

"These guys are insane!" he shouted. The Impulse retrieved its beam boomerangs and staggered back, sword in hand, staring with wide eyes at the Separatist mobile suits. "They're self-destructing their own mobile suits! They're insane!"

The GOUF Ignited's heat rod went tearing through a half-dozen Separatist mobile suits; they exploded in a blaze, and the GOUF skidded to a halt next to the Impulse.

"What's wrong, Shinn?!" Heine asked, moving next to the Impulse and raising his beam sword.

"These guys are crazy!" Shinn exclaimed. "They're doing kamikaze attacks!"

"Of course they are!" Heine answered. "What else can they do?!"

The GINNs charged; Heine charged back, slashing one in half and turning his beam guns on a BuCUE. The BuCUE skidded to a halt, spewing smoke; the GOUF leapt into the air and cut down a Dagger L.

"They're unbelievable," Shinn muttered.

One of the GINNs was riddled full of bullet holes and collapsed backwards; from the canal, a squad of Muslim League GINN WASPs attacked into the charging Separatists' flank. Shinn stormed ahead, swinging his combined anti-ship swords through five enemy mobile suits in succession, and took off, flying backwards and deflecting machinegun fire with his shield. He landed with a crash in front of the gatehouse; a GINN came storming at him, sword raised, but Shinn cut it the attacker in two before he could bring his sword down. A squadron of ZAFT DINNs came storming in overhead, pounding the Separatists with a missile volley; a squadron of Separatist DINNs forced them off. The leading GINN WASP was struck in the right arm by a missile from an enemy DINN.

Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief as the damaged GINN WASP leapt into the air, latching onto its attacker. It self-destructed a moment later, and the desiccated remains of the DINN splashed into the canal.

"You're all insane!" Shinn screamed. "Stop it!"

Shinn's senses went into a frenzy; there was death and hatred everywhere. He could feel it crushing him, ripping him apart, seeping into his brain—everywhere he looked, he saw angry eyes and blackened hearts, all lusting for each other's blood. The world had gone mad.

"_Stop it!_" Shinn shrieked, squeezing his eyes shut and firing the Impulse's CIWS.

A thundering explosion caught his attention; he looked out into the canal and saw the _Desmond_ steadily limping towards the gate. The ship had sustained massive damage; smoke was spewing from its hull, but its guns remained active, firing into the air and at the Separatist mobile suits on the canal banks.

"What the hell is the _Desmond_ doing?!" Heine snapped; the GOUF shot down another Dagger L and turned to face the dying ship. "Why haven't they retreated?!"

A pair of GuAIZ Rs stood on the _Desmond_'s smoldering deck, firing up into the air; a squadron of Separatist DINNs came shrieking in, spraying missiles and machinegun fire on the ailing ship. One of the main guns exploded; one of the GuAIZ Rs was riddled full of machinegun hulls and fell backwards into the canal. Shinn opened fire on the DINNs with his CIWS, but it was no use. On the canal bank, a Separatist GINN smashed its way through two Muslim League GINN WASPs with its sword and leapt into the air, raising its sword for a finishing blow. The Savior Gundam swept by, firing its beam rifle and plasma cannons; the GINN's right arm, left leg, and left backpack binder went sailing away, but the GINN still fell forwards. It slammed down on its back in front of the bridge; the cockpit opened, and Shinn's eyes widened in horror as the pilot jumped out, holding a switch high. The remaining GuAIZ R took aim with its beam rifle, but it was too late—

The _Desmond_ disappeared in a plume of fire.

Missiles pounded against the Impulse; Shinn turned his disbelieving eyes towards them, and found a pair of ZuOOTs trundling towards him. They were marked with the same camouflage as the Separatists' GINNs; Shinn scowled at them and charged, slashing them both in half. A BuCUE came galloping in behind them; Shinn stormed towards it, slicing it apart as well.

In the air, Shinn saw Lunamaria's red Gunner ZAKU Warrior veer away from an enemy DINN, firing its beam cannon. The DINN raised its shotgun and fired, punching through Luna's Guul; the explosion sent Luna's ZAKU reeling, and the DINN pursued, raising its machinegun to finish her off. Shinn took off, diving through the air and slicing the DINN in half as he passed. He landed with a crash, spearing another enemy GINN on the anti-ship sword.

"Shinn!" Shiho shouted; up above, the Savior caught Luna's ZAKU and nudged it towards the ground. "The Separatists are trying to plant explosives on the gate!"

A swarm of missiles shot through the air over Shinn's head, landing in the ranks of a squad of GINNs toting explosives. The bombs went off, wiping out everything around them; up above, Rey's Guul was riddled with machinegun holes. He kicked the Guul towards the attacking DINN and destroyed both with a beam rifle shot, and his Blaze ZAKU Phantom landed with a crash next to the Impulse.

"The Separatists must not be allowed to destroy the gate," Rey said, "or our mission here will have been for nothing!"

Shinn charged with a scream, cutting down two more Separatist mobile suits as he went. Rey's ZAKU fired, shooting down another DINN in the sky. Shinn stormed towards a GINN carrying a crate of explosives; he slashed the GINN's arms off and caught the explosives, hurling them into an oncoming squad of Separatist BuCUEs. The explosion wiped them out; Shinn stabbed the GINN through the torso, and it collapsed backwards lifelessly.

The last remaining GINN WASP on the west side of the canal charged towards a Separatist GINN as it stumbled towards the canal waters. The GINN WASP latched onto the GINN; another GINN shot out the GINN WASP's legs, but the GINN WASP dragged the first GINN down into the water, and a moment later, a column of water burst into the air.

Shinn lunged at yet another explosive-toting GINN, knocking it into the canal, and turned to swing one of his swords through an oncoming BuCUE.

Rey's ZAKU used its shields to stop a volley of missiles from reaching the gatehouse; he fired back with his beam rifle, and a DINN went spiraling out of the air into the canal. A ZuOOT came streaking in as fast as its treads would carry it, laden with explosives; Rey took it down with a beam shot to the torso, and the resulting explosion wiped out a nearby GINN as well.

"How many of these guys _are_ there?" Shinn exclaimed. Overhead, the _Minerva_'s Tristans opened fire, spearing an Earth Alliance destroyer and wiping it out in a blaze. The _Minerva_ soared over the battlefield, firing missiles and CIWS bursts into the Separatist and Alliance mobile suits. The Separatists began to pull back; the Daggers began to retreat; the Alliance ships began to flee.

The ground shuddered as a GINN exploded, and Shinn cast a weary glance over the battlefield. The Alliance troops were panicking and retreating; the Muslim League troops, aided by the _Minerva_, were driving them away from the canal. The tide of the battle was turning—

And then all hell broke loose.

The ground began to rumble again, with a deep, ominous vibration. A moment later a thunderous explosion ripped open the ground near the Impulse's feet; Shinn was sent tumbling back, and the smoke surrounded him. Voices filled the Impulse's cockpit, and Shinn yelped in surprise as the Impulse slammed onto its back with a crash. He quickly got back to his feet.

Before him, the canal's gate was collapsing; the walls were sliding down into the water, and the canal was being steadily blocked with debris from more explosions. With a sinking feeling, Shinn realized that the Separatists had succeeded in planting their explosives.

Nearby, the GOUF Ignited landed, and Heine scowled at the Earth Alliance troops as they fled.

"You bastards!" he shouted, wheeling the GOUF around to face them. "That's just like you, isn't it?! Blow something up, destroy thousands of people's lives, and run away! Well you won't get away today!"

Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief as the GOUF raised its right arm and pointed its beam gun at the fleeing soldiers. He opened his mouth to say something, but the only sound he heard was the GOUF's beam gun firing.

Shinn watched with a dull, painful stare as Heine cut down the fleeing Alliance soldiers with the GOUF's beam gun.

Heine cackled with delight. "Not so high and mighty now, are you?!" he laughed. "Come on, you little fuckers, _RUN!_ Run all you want, I'll kill you all anyways! Goddamn Naturals!"

The GOUF stomped after the surviving Alliance soldiers—Shinn's gaze automatically fell to the GOUF's feet, where he saw the bodies and what remained of Heine's rampage.

A soldier, covered in blood, was trying to get to his feet and run away. The GOUF's foot slammed down near him, and time slowed down as Shinn realized in horror what was about to happen.

"Heine, don't!" Shinn shouted. "You don't need to—!"

The GOUF raised its foot; Heine ignored Shinn, laughing as he chased the remaining Alliance soldiers.

"_HEINE!_" Shinn screamed.

The GOUF's foot came down with a crash, and Shinn fell silent, staring in disbelief.

The GOUF tramped away, pursuing the remaining Alliance soldiers. Shinn stared at the smear of blood left on the ground in its wake.

Shinn sat in the Impulse's cockpit, staring blankly at the bloodstain on the ground. His senses were in a frenzy; he could feel death and pain and terror all around him, pressing down on him, ripping him apart. He looked up at the GOUF; he saw a dark shape, twisted and terrifying. Anger rose within him like steam from boiling water.

"_STOP IT!_"

The Impulse took off with a roar, shoulder-ramming the GOUF and knocking both mobile suits to the ground. Heine blinked in disbelief as the Impulse pinned his mobile suit's arm.

"_You don't have to kill them!_" Shinn shrieked; Heine stared disbelievingly at his haggard, outraged face. "_The battle's over! You don't have to kill them!_"

"What the hell are you—" Heine started.Rey's ZAKU landed near them and pulled the two mobile suits apart.

"Commander Westenfluss, the battle is over," Rey said. "We have failed; we must return to the _Minerva_."

"Who do you think you are?!" Heine shouted, as the GOUF stood, glowering at Rey's ZAKU. The Savior Gundam set down nearby; Shiho interposed herself between the ZAKU and the GOUF, while Lunamaria's ZAKU moved in to help the Impulse back up.

"Heine, we are returning to the _Minerva_," Shiho said, glaring at him. "That is an order."

Heine purpled in rage. "You can't order me—" he began.

The Savior raised its beam rifle. Shiho narrowed her eyes.

"Yes I can."

Heine stared furiously at the Savior's beam rifle, and then looked back at Shiho's glowering face. At last he growled a curse, and the GOUF took off towards the _Minerva_.

Inside her ZAKU, Luna watched Shinn fearfully. He looked sickly, ashen, almost dead; he was gasping for breath, his eyes wide and bloodshot. She opened her mouth to speak; Shinn brought the Impulse back to its feet and jumped in the air, towards the _Minerva_. Rey was not long in following.

"What happened, Commander?" Luna asked helplessly, looking at the Savior. Shiho heaved a sigh, opening the visor of her helmet to rub her eyes tiredly.

"Heine attacked the retreating Alliance ground troops," she said, "and Shinn rammed him to make him stop."

Luna looked down at the carnage; finally she noticed the charred corpses, and gasped in horror. "H-Heine did this?"

Shiho glared up at the GOUF as it landed on the _Minerva_'s deck. "Yes," she growled. "Heine did this."

The Savior took a step towards the canal and paused, glancing back at Luna. "We're returning to the _Minerva_. There's nothing more we can do here."

Luna looked back at the destruction around her once last time, before both mobile suits took off towards the _Minerva_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Office of the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

Gilbert Dullindal sat back as the reports ticked by. The _Desmond_, the _Bagley_, and the _Minerva_'s two _Vosgulov_ submarine escorts had all been wiped out in the battle at the Suez Canal.

Gilbert smirked amusedly to himself.

"How terrible," he chuckled. "All that sacrifice, and in the end, the canal gate was still destroyed."

He glanced at the translucent crystal chess set at his side. The pieces were all moved forward; however, his red knight was the furthest forward, isolated, nearly surrounded by the opponent's clear pawns.

Gilbert tapped the armrest of his chair and looked back at the screen. The _Minerva_ was docking at the Muslim League's base at Port Said, on the northern edge of the Suez Canal. They had failed.

Gilbert smiled. It was so ironic.

He keyed open the second report; this one was from Rey Za Burrel. There was a report from Heine Westenfluss as well, but Gilbert's intuition told him that Rey's would be more interesting. He began to read, and his eyes lit up in delight.

Shinn's Newtype powers had expanded to include perception of his enemies' emotions and deaths. It was having a profound effect on him; however, his already outstanding piloting skills were improving by leaps and bounds.

"Excellent," he said to himself. "Excellent. Now you're starting to find your place in this world, Shinn."

As he read on, he narrowed his eyes at Rey's suggestion to allow Shinn some time off from duty, in order to recuperate. Rey warned against the possibility of burning Shinn out and breaking his spirit; Gilbert scoffed at the notion. Nonetheless, the entire _Minerva_ crew was undoubtedly exhausted, and so Gilbert sent to the _Minerva_ a notice of one day of shore leave on the 29th. He sat back with a feeling of distaste in his mouth; his knight would be held out of action for a day, but he brushed the thought off, reminding himself that for every day the _Minerva_ remained out of action, there would be many more where the _Minerva_ would remain in the thick of the fighting.

He keyed up another file, and smiled. Before him was arrayed the preliminary plans for the ZAFT attack on the Arzachel crater base.

_Oh yes, my little Newtype. You'll be back in the thick of the fighting indeed_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 28th, CE 73 - Port Said, Egypt, Muslim League**

The car sped along an otherwise deserted coastal road. To Sting Oakley, this was unusual, but not unwelcome; the last thing he wanted to deal with right now was traffic. In the passenger seat, Auel heaved a sigh, looking out at the ocean.

"Why do _we_ have to go out looking for the _Minerva_?" he complained. "I thought they had this thing called an 'intelligence agency' to do shit like this."

"The Defense Intelligence Agency has always been more about delegating intelligence-gathering tasks to other people than gathering any intelligence themselves," Sting said. "This is what we do in the Special Forces."

"Well," Auel grumbled, casting an angry glance over his shoulder, "did we have to bring _her_?"

Sting glanced over his shoulder at Stella, as she stared blankly at the sea. "Why not?" he asked. "Maybe we'll have to shank a ZAFT soldier or something. Besides, Neo ordered us to take her. I guess she makes us look more inconspicuous or something."

Auel blinked. "And how does _that_ work?" He looked back at her again. "Inconspicuous people don't space out and dance in the middle of sidewalks. We're plenty friggin' inconspicuous on our own."

"I guess Neo just wanted to get her out of his hair, then," Sting said in irritation. "I'm sure we'll be thankful she's around sooner or later. Maybe we'll get in a fight."

Auel snorted dismissively. "I could take 'em myself," he scoffed. "And it's still bullshit that we have to go out here ourselves. We probably won't even find any—"

Auel fell silent as they rounded a corner, and Sting brought the car to a halt, smirking. Across a channel was the Port Said military complex; Sting pulled out a pair of binoculars and sat back, sweeping his gaze over the complex.

"There it is," he said. He handed the binoculars off to Auel; he scowled in annoyance.

"What are those bastards doing here anyways?" he asked, returning the binoculars to Sting.

"They were sent here to fight at the Suez Canal," Sting explained. "The canal was destroyed, so I guess they're getting repaired at Port Said."

"Then what does that mean for us?" Auel asked. Sting scowled as the memories returned.

"We have to wait until they leave," he said with a sneer, "and ambush them."

"That's it?" Auel scoffed. He sat back, crossing his arms. "Neo's such a pussy."

Sting ground his teeth as he remembered the incident in the hangar. "Yeah," he growled. "He is."

He started the car back up and drove off.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Port Said Naval Base, Egypt, Muslim League**

The crew lounge was silent; all eyes were fixed on the two figures in the middle of the room.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Heine shouted, glowering at Shinn. "We were in the middle of a battlefield! An enemy mobile suit could have attacked either of us at any moment!"

"What was _I_ thinking?!" Shinn screamed, meeting Heine's glare with an even angrier one. "_You_ were the one massacring defenseless soldiers! What the _HELL_ was your problem?!"

"This is war!" Heine yelled, balling his fists. "The superior side _always_ wipes out the inferior! That's the way it works; that's what we have to do to win!"

"We don't have to kill everyone to do it!" Shinn shouted back. "All we have to do is convince them to stop fighting! There's no reason to kill defenseless soldiers!"

Heine purpled in rage and smacked Shinn across the face, and then grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him close, screaming in his face.

"_THEY'RE NATURALS!_" he roared. "Siegel Clyne was weak and never took out all of our enemies when he had the chance! Patrick Zala _did!_ And he would've finished the job had it not been for that damned pop star, Lacus! She interfered, and that little lapdog Athrun destroyed GENESIS and killed Chairman Zala, and squandered our chance to destroy our enemies! If we don't wipe out the Naturals, they'll attack us again with more nukes like they did at the start of this damned war, and they'll keep shooting at us until they kill us all! People will die again, like they did in the Bloody Valentine! _Do you want that?!_"

Shinn's eyes flashed; a moment later he punched Heine across the face, knocking him to the floor, to the disbelief of the onlookers.

"I don't want _anyone_ to die!" Shinn shouted back, glowering down at Heine. "My family _died_ at Orb because some goddamned psychopathic soldier like _you_ couldn't stop pulling the fucking trigger! I'm not letting that happen again! You wanna fight a war, fine, you fight one! But don't tell me that wiping out people who can't fight back is the way to peace!"

"You little bastard!" Heine screamed, lunging at Shinn.

Out of nowhere, another fist came flying into Heine's stomach, cutting his attack short and sending him staggering to the floor. At his side, Rey Za Burrel straightened up, cracking his knuckles and staring impassively at Heine.

"Commander Westenfluss," he said coldly, "please control yourself. Your actions during the battle yesterday were unnecessary, as are your actions now."

"Who do you think you are?!" Heine snarled, clutching his stomach as he struggled back to his knees.

"Rey," Shinn started. Rey glowered down at Heine.

"I suggest you leave, Commander Westenfluss," he said, sternly and authoritatively. "I will handle Shinn."

Heine struggled back to his feet. "How _dare_ you order me around!" he growled shakily. "I'm in FAITH, you little bastard!"

Rey glared back at him steadily. "Your rank and your arrogance cloud your judgment, Commander," he said coolly. "Now please leave. You are exacerbating the situation."

Heine opened his mouth to say something again, but Rey stared at him coolly and unshakably. He cast a final glare towards Shinn and trudged out of the lounge.

Rey glanced at Shinn. "We should leave as well," he said. "We have already made an unnecessary commotion." Before Shinn could protest, Rey was already ushering him out through the opposite door.

"Rey, why did you step in?" Shinn asked helplessly as Rey pushed him out into the corridor. "I mean—"

"Heine's actions aggravated your sensitivity to death," Rey said calmly. "When human beings are in pain, they act to stop the stimulus that is causing their pain. Your action was no different."

Shinn looked down at the floor, unable to respond.

"The Chairman has granted us a day of shore leave tomorrow," Rey said. "I suggest you relax as much as possible tomorrow, and recuperate from your recent stresses."

Rey turned and walked away, and Shinn sighed, holding his head in his hands.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	12. Phase 12: Stella Loussier

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 12 - Stella Loussier

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 29th, CE 73 - Port Said Naval Base, Egypt, Muslim League**

Shinn Asuka was determined to spend his day of shore leave alone, and nothing Lunamaria or anyone else could say would change his mind. She barely had a moment to catch up with him; he was already decked out in his light gray civilian clothes, checking the fuel tank of a sleek red motorcycle near the gate of the Port Said base.

"Shinn!" Luna called; Shinn looked up with a hint of annoyance at her. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

"Who's 'us'?" Shinn asked warily, turning back to the motorcycle and kneeling down next to it, peering into its innards.

"Meyrin, Vino, Yolant, and me," she said. Shinn stood back up.

"Heine's not coming? Is he too good for us all?" Shinn scoffed.

"He's probably off hitting on Shiho," Luna grumbled. "I don't know what they're doing. But are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

Shinn said nothing for a moment. "Where are you going?"

Luna blinked. "To the city," she said confusedly. "Why, where are you going?"

Shinn climbed onto the motorcycle and glanced at her. "Out."

He moved to drive off, but Luna caught his arm first. He looked back at her, wondering where her concern was coming from.

"Why are you being like this?" she asked. "I mean, you're usually all distant, but this is getting out of hand. What's wrong?"

Shinn looked away. Luna was his friend, whether he liked it or not; he couldn't lie to her all the time.

"That Newtype stuff, about perceiving emotions and all," he began.

"You're still on about that?" Luna asked. "Forget about it, Shinn, it's not real."

Shinn looked back at her with a hint of sorrow in his eyes. "Yes it is."

He revved the engine and took off.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The gyroheli kicked up a cloud of dust as it landed; inside its cockpit, Rey glanced around. This was the island he'd been told to go to, but the person who had told him to come here was nowhere to be found.

"Punctual as always, Rey," a voice Rey knew all too well said. From the shadows emerged a tall figure in a black leather trench coat, with an upturned collar around his long blond hair. Rey's eyes widened at the masked face.

"Rau!" Rey exclaimed, hopping out of the gyroheli's cockpit and throwing his arms around Rau Le Creuset in delight.

"It's been a while, Rey," Rau said with a smile, patting Rey on the back. "I never saw you at Carpentaria."

Rey let go of Rau and looked away sullenly. "My duties on the _Minerva_ and watching over Shinn left me with no time to spare," he explained. Rau chuckled, sliding his gray-gloved hands into his trench coat's pockets.

"Of course," he said. "Taking care of our little Newtype is a fulltime job." He glanced across the ocean, towards the _Minerva_ in the Port Said dock. "You are aware of the _Minerva_'s next assignment, correct?"

Rey shook his head. Rau smiled.

"Across the Mediterranean," he said, nodding in the indicated direction, "on the island of Lodonia, in the Ionian Sea, there's an abandoned Earth Alliance installation. Some ZAFT pilots found it, but an Alliance warship forced them to retreat. The _Minerva_ is going to be sent in to take out the enemy ship and investigate this installation."

"Yes sir," Rey said promptly, saluting. Rau smirked.

"Ensure that Shinn's Newtype senses are sufficiently sensitive for this little experience," he said. "Every Newtype has to go through it at some point. He will be no different."

Rey wavered for a moment; Rau smiled. "Yes sir," Rey finally answered.

Rau turned and looked out at the _Minerva_.

"It's all for the sake of our little Newtype boy," he said sardonically. "Everything will change, because of him."

——————————————————————————————————————————

The motorcycle was going as fast as it could, but for Shinn Asuka, it wasn't fast enough. Nothing could take him away fast enough from the _Minerva_, from Heine, from Shiho, from that damned Newtype stuff. He refused to look back; he could not let it haunt him.

He was a Newtype, he was _special_, he was _superior_ to everyone else, he could understand all their pain and suffering, but he didn't want any of it. A part of his soul had died when his family had died at Orb; now that void was being filled with the grief and suffering of everyone else. He wanted to fight to protect what remained that he still cared about, but now he had even the deaths of his enemies working against him. He had behind him an insufferable squadron commander, a friend who didn't know when to stop prodding him, another friend who was pushing this Newtype theory down his throat, and a new commanding officer who was, at best, a monster. There was nothing left for him to protect; there was no reason for him to fight.

Shinn eased the motorcycle off the road, onto a rocky outcropping overlooking the ocean. It was a peaceful, calm spot, jutting out into uninterrupted nature. Shinn popped out the kickstand and got off, wandering towards the edge and looking at the ocean.

The sound of a girl humming caught his attention; he glanced to his left.

There was indeed a girl on another outcropping not far from Shinn. Shinn looked at her in surprise. She was certainly attractive; she was dancing and humming to herself, her long white skirt billowing around her, her blonde hair flowing in the breeze. Shinn smiled; that was the sort of peacefulness he had left the base to see.

He looked back at the ocean; he'd spent the past few days fighting for his life, fighting and feeling the death he was incurring. And he was still fighting. Everyone was suffering.

Shinn blinked as he realized that the girl wasn't humming anymore. He looked over, but she was gone, and Shinn realized with a sinking feeling what might have happened. "Don't tell me she..."

He looked over the edge; sure enough, the girl was down there, kicking and thrashing in the water.

"She doesn't even know how to swim?!" Shinn exclaimed. He threw off his jacket and shoes and leapt over the edge.

Shinn was barely in the water before he started kicking towards the drowning girl. She was already sinking; Shinn seized her by the waist and tried to kick back to the surface, but she continued to thrash in his arms.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he felt a familiar sensation in the back of his mind. He felt terror, distorted somehow—he felt exactly the same as he did when he fought the Gaia Gundam.

_It can't be,_ he thought. _She can't be any older than me! It _can't _be!_

The girl was still struggling in his arms; Shinn narrowed his eyes at her.

_Stop struggling!_ he thought angrily, trying to keep clear of her arms and still pull her back to the surface. At last he managed to maneuver himself behind her, grab her underneath the arms, and kick as fast as his legs could carry him back to the surface.

They broke the surface of the water; the girl screamed in terror, and Shinn absently wondered how she still had enough air left to do so. She struggled to get away from him, and Shinn winced in pain as her fingers slashed across his face, drawing blood and filling the cuts with stinging seawater. He persevered, struggling with her as she tried to get away, pulling her towards the shallows; growing impatient, he picked her up by the armpits and dragged her up into shallower water.

At last, with his strength taxed, he fell to his knees, gasping for breath. The girl was panting and gasping for air, her eyes still wide, and both of them were soaked to the bone.

"Idiot!" Shinn shouted. "What the hell were you thinking?! Do you want to die?!"

The girl looked at him in horror; Shinn blinked, and a moment later, his ears were split by a piercing scream of terror.

The girl fell backwards into the water, staring with horrified eyes at Shinn.

"Stella doesn't wanna die!" she shrieked, backing away from Shinn.

"What—" Shinn started, struggling back to his feet. The girl got back to her feet, stumbling back towards the sea, away from Shinn.

"Stella doesn't wanna die!" she screamed. "Stella's scared!"

"What's wrong?!" Shinn shouted, following her. "Nobody's going to—"

"Stella's scared!" she screamed again, staggering back towards the sea and threatening to go back under the surface.

Shinn lunged at her, seizing her by the waist and pulling her away from the ocean. She thrashed again, trying to break free from Shinn's grasp, but Shinn held her close despite her struggles.

"Stella doesn't wanna die!" she cried, clawing at Shinn again. "Stella's—"

"It's okay!" Shinn shouted back. "You're not going to die!"

The girl blinked again, falling silent.

"You won't die!" Shinn repeated. "I'll protect you!"

Shinn felt her relax in his arms and collapse against him; he let out a sigh of relief, looking at her disbelieving face.

"You'll...protect...?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," Shinn said breathlessly, "I'll protect you."

"But—" she started.

"Just calm down," Shinn cut her off. "Don't worry. You'll be fine."

She seemed about to speak again, but let out her breath and collapsed again into Shinn's arms. Shinn grunted as he hoisted her back to her feet.

"Come on," he said quietly, "we should find a way back up onto the cliff."

The girl stared at him blankly for a moment. Shinn flipped his soaking hair out of his face and rubbed his cheek testily, wiping the blood off his face.

"You'll...protect Stella," she murmured. Shinn blinked, looking back at her. "But...Neo said...he'd protect Stella..."

"We should get back up on the cliff," Shinn said, taking her by the shoulders and leading her towards the edge of the shallows.

"Neo said he'd protect Stella," the girl murmured, "but...but Neo didn't protect Stella..."

"Is that your name?" Shinn asked, looking over his shoulder at her. "Stella?"

The girl stared at him a moment, before she nodded slowly. Shinn took her by the shoulders and led her along the shallows.

"I'm Shinn," he said.

"Shinn..." Stella repeated blankly.

Shinn looked up at the cliff. There was a slope that they could climb up and get them back to the road; however, Shinn had no idea where Stella had come from, or where to take her back to once he got back to his motorcycle.

"Where's your family, Stella?" he asked, looking back at her as he led her through the shallows.

"...Stella doesn't have a family," she answered blankly. Shinn nodded solemnly and helped her up onto the banks.

He paused, glancing at her foot; there was a long, bleeding cut on her ankle. Shinn stopped her before she could go any further and ripped the edge of his shirt off, tying it around her ankle. She stared at the improvised bandage for a moment, and then looked back at up at Shinn; he smiled back.

"Come on," he said. "We can climb up the slope and get back to the road."

Stella stared blankly at him. "Shinn...protected Stella..."

Shinn took her hand and led her towards the slope. She stared blankly at him as they both walked up the rocks.

"Where should I take you once we get back up there?" Shinn asked. Stella blinked at him.

"Neo didn't protect Stella," she murmured.

Shinn looked back at her, wondering why she was so hung up on the idea of being protected. He remembered the pressure he had felt from her; he wondered if it could really be possible, if this could really be the Gaia's pilot.

"Why didn't Neo protect Stella?" she asked suddenly, grabbing Shinn's shoulder and looking up at him.

"He wasn't here," Shinn said. He led her back up to the road.

Stella stared blinkingly at Shinn.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Sting and Auel sat at a thin metal table in a small cafe, open to the air and the cool ocean breeze. Sting was working diligently at a laptop; Auel was looking annoyed as he sat with crossed arms, staring at the passerby on the street.

"There's no sign of her in the city," Sting grumbled, closing his laptop. "Goddammit, how can she manage to get lost like this?"

"This is Neo's fault for making us take her," Auel snarled. "She would've been safer if we'd left her in the pod."

Sting rubbed his temples in frustration. "Where could she be?"

"She likes the sea," Auel put in scornfully. "Maybe she's there."

Auel and Sting looked at each other for a moment.

"Oh _shit_," Sting groaned.

"Shit is right," Auel said, standing up. "Come on, let's go. She might not have drowned, _yet_." Auel hurriedly swept Sting's belongings into his knapsack, as Sting paid the tab. "You know," Auel said, as they rushed out of the cafe and towards Sting's car, "Neo's never gonna let us off for this one?"

Sting leapt over the door and into the driver's seat as Auel jumped in. "She's gonna get us killed one day," he grunted, turning the key.

The car sped off with a screech of tires.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Normally, Shinn would not have been exhausted climbing up a slope. Unfortunately, he had also had to half-drag Stella with him, and that made the task much more difficult. And so, at the top of the slope, next to the road, Shinn panted for breath, wiping the sweat and seawater from his brow. He looked at Stella; she stared back at him with big watery magenta eyes. He shook his head, spraying water everywhere; Stella started to giggle.

Shinn looked back at her, confused; she giggled and shook her head as well; water went everywhere, like a dog shaking itself dry.

Shinn smiled and took her hand, leading her along the road.

_She can't be the Gaia's pilot. It's impossible_.

"I've got a motorcycle up there," he said, pointing. "I can take you back to the city if you want."

Stella stared blankly at him.

They returned to Shinn's motorcycle; he took a moment to put on his shoes and handed Stella his jacket. Stella stared at it, and then looked back at Shinn. He draped the jacket over her, wondering why she seemed so slow and confused, and climbed onto the motorcycle. "Come on, it won't hurt you. I'll take you back to the city."

Stella reluctantly climbed on and wrapped her arms around Shinn's waist. He glanced over his shoulder at her; as usual, she stared back at him blankly.

Shinn tried not to sigh; he revved the motorcycle's engine and took off down the road.

Stella was trembling; Shinn made his way down the road, feeling thankful that it was deserted, because he and Stella were both still soaking wet and Shinn couldn't think of a convenient method of them both getting dry.

"Where do you want me to take you, Stella?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at her. Stella said nothing; Shinn repeated his question, but Stella remained silent.

"Stella...Stella should find Sting," she said quietly.

"Is Sting your friend?" Shinn asked. Stella blinked.

"...yeah," she said after a moment, not seeming to understand Shinn's question. He blinked at her in confusion, unable to figure out what was wrong with her. "Stella has to go back to Neo..."

"Who's Neo?" Shinn asked. Stella blinked at him again.

"Neo..." she murmured. "Neo...Neo takes care of Stella," she said blankly. "But...Neo didn't protect Stella..."

Shinn rubbed his cheek again, and wiped the blood off on his sleeve. He would probably have a scar where she had cut him, but he could deal with that later. He squinted up at the end of the road; it ended in a huge suspension bridge that stretched towards the city.

"Where's Sting, then?" Shinn asked, glancing over his shoulder at her. Stella stared back, wide-eyed.

"...Stella doesn't know..." she mumbled. Shinn sighed quietly, returning his eyes to the road. Stella didn't seem to know anything.

Stella was silent for a moment.

"Why did Shinn protect Stella?" she asked suddenly. Shinn blinked and looked back at her in surprise.

"Why shouldn't I have?" he asked back. "You were in trouble. It was the right thing to do."

Stella stared at Shinn for a moment; she smiled and hugged him tightly. "Stella likes Shinn," she said quietly.

Shinn blinked in surprise, blushing faintly as Stella hugged him. He glanced back at her one more time; for the first time since he'd met her, she looked happy.

He shook his head, smiling himself, and took off down the road.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Port Said Naval Base, Egypt, Muslim League**

"Lodonia Island," Arthur read uneasily, glancing between his clipboard and Talia's increasingly irritated face. "Site of an unidentifiable installation, abandoned by appearance and protected by an Earth Alliance _Spengler_-class carrier and a full complement of Dagger L mobile suits and Spearhead fighters. Discovered during the night by a pair of AWACS DINNs, but the Daggers attacked and forced them to retreat before they could gather any further information." He glanced up at Talia as he paused nervously. "Our orders are to destroy the enemy carrier and investigate the installation."

Talia sat back. "Who are these orders coming from?" she asked.

Arthur consulted his clipboard. "The Chairman himself, ma'am."

Talia closed her eyes in exasperation. "Of course they are," she scoffed. "The Chairman seems to delight in giving us orders." She glanced back down at Arthur. "Are we getting any support?"

Arthur once again consulted his clipboard. "No ma'am," he said, "we will be expected to take out the carrier and the mobile suits on our own."

Talia snorted in disgust. "Because we have Shinn," she said. "Of course. That makes _perfect_ sense." She glanced down at the FAITH badge on her uniform's lapel. "Well, under my authority in FAITH, I could bring another ship with us."

Arthur read the next handful of lines and suddenly looked very crestfallen; Talia arched an inquisitive eyebrow at him.

"The Chairman has ordered that the _Minerva_ take this assignment alone," he said sheepishly, "so as to lower casualties and increase the speed of the operation."

Talia stared ruefully at Arthur for a moment.

"The Chairman—" Arthur began.

"To hell with the Chairman!" Talia interrupted angrily, causing Arthur to squeak in surprise and back away. "The Chairman will get us all killed if we listen to _him!"_

"But the Chairman ordered—" Arthur started; Talia's flashing eyes cut him short again.

"There has to be another ship around here that we can bring with us to fight," she said. "I am not going to turn Shinn into an attack dog." Arthur blinked in confusion. "Arthur, find us an escort to take with us. I don't care if Shinn has taken out ships singlehandedly before; he is a human being, and even if the Chairman is not willing to respect that, I am."

"But we were the only ZAFT ship to survive the battle at the Suez Canal," Arthur protested meekly. Talia groaned, rubbing her temples in frustration.

"I understand," she said resignedly, standing up and crossing her arms, glaring out the _Minerva_'s bridge windows at the horizon of the Mediterranean Sea. "You're dismissed, Arthur."

"But—" Arthur began to sputter, looking down at his clipboard helplessly.

"_You're dismissed, Arthur_."

Arthur yelped in surprise, saluted, and scurried out of the bridge. Talia stared ruefully across the Mediterranean, in the general direction of the next port the _Minerva_ would come calling in.

_Gilbert...I won't let you do to Shinn what you did to Rey._

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Port Said, Egypt, Muslim League**

Wind and sun had combined to do a partial job of drying out Shinn and Stella as they sped down the seaside roads. Now Shinn was coasting into the city, still feeling damp but not as badly as before. Stella was silent, staring blankly at everything around them, as Shinn entered the city.

"Where should we start looking for Sting?" Shinn asked, glancing over his shoulder at Stella. She stared back. Shinn glanced around at his surroundings; up ahead, the traffic was grinding to a halt. He could see the olive-brown uniforms of the Muslim League's ground soldiers up ahead; he narrowed his eyes, wondering what was going on.

Stella stared fearfully at the soldiers; Shinn eased the motorcycle out of the flow of traffic and coasted down a side street, hoping to avoid them. He knew he still had his ZAFT identification, which would easily get him past any security the Muslim League troops were setting up, but Stella was just a girl he'd rescued off the coast.

Shinn's heart sank as a trio of soldiers emerged in the road, ordering him to halt. He came to a stop as ordered; the three men gathered around him, rifles drawn.

"Security check," one of them said. "Identification, please."

Shinn uneasily handed over the card in his wallet; the soldier blinked at it for a moment and looked back at Shinn. He handed the card back; his two companions both glanced meaningfully at Stella.

"She'll have to come with us," the leading soldier said, gesturing to Stella as she stared fearfully at them. Shinn glanced over his shoulder at her.

He paused, as he saw terror in Stella's eyes. She stared in horror at the soldiers; they glared back at her.

"What's this all about?" Shinn asked, dismounting the motorcycle and interposing himself between the lead soldier and Stella.

"There have been reports of Alliance agents in the city," the soldier said. "She has no identification; she'll have to come with us for questioning."

Shinn looked back at Stella. "You think she's a spy?!" he asked incredulously. "She's just a little girl! Who the hell told you she's a spy?!"

The other two soldiers raised their rifles, jabbing Stella off the motorcycle; she gasped in horror as one of them grabbed her by the arm to pull her away.

"Shinn!" she cried; Shinn clenched his teeth angrily and glared back at the leading soldier.

"Let her go!" Shinn shouted. "I've been with her all day, she hasn't done anything wrong!"

"We can't verify that," the soldier said, "so we must—"

He never said anything more; Shinn swept the legs out from underneath him, seizing his rifle and bashing him in between the eyes with the stock. The soldiers pulling Stella away turned in surprise; Shinn darted at them, smashing one of them in the side of the head with the side of the gun. The last soldier raised his own rifle, but never managed to fire a shot; Shinn lunged at him, diving past him, and took him down with a heavy blow to the back of the head. He dropped the rifle on the soldier's body and looked at Stella. "Let's go," he said, "before they wake up."

Stella watched numbly; Shinn pulled her back onto the motorcycle and took off.

"Shinn," she murmured, as Shinn wound his way through side streets and alleys, "Shinn protected Stella..."

"You can't be an Alliance spy," Shinn said. "It's impossible. There's no reason for them to question you."

He resolutely stared at the road; she couldn't be an Alliance spy, she couldn't be the Gaia's pilot, it just wasn't possible. The pressure he had felt from her was a fluke; he had to have misinterpreted it. Stella was too gentle and confused to be a soldier.

He glanced back at Stella again; she was smiling.

_She couldn't be a soldier._

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Whoever did this," Sting said, surveying the three unconscious solders, "sure knew what they were doing."

Auel crossed his arms, looking at them from his spot next to the car. "Maybe it was Stella."

Sting stood up and cast a wary glance down the street. "They're looking for Alliance spies," he said dourly. "We'd better hurry up and find Stella. She won't last long on her own."

They both climbed into the car; Sting drove carefully down the side streets, heading back towards one of the main roads.

"What if somebody said her block word?" Auel said with a hint of foreboding in his voice. "Maybe they found her and took her in somewhere."

"Then we'll have to find out," Sting said. He blinked and looked up ahead.

A red motorcycle passed by up ahead; on it was a boy with black hair, but sitting behind him, staring blankly at him, was the familiar figure of Stella Loussier.

Sting didn't wait for Auel to say anything; he took off after the motorcycle, following them closely. On the motorcycle, Stella looked slowly over her shoulder.

"Sting..." she murmured. Shinn glanced over behind him, and pulled over to the side of the road.

"That's Sting?" he asked, helping Stella off onto the sidewalk. Sting parked next to the sidewalk; Stella nodded slowly as Sting and Auel approached.

"Stella," Sting said. "We've been looking for you. Let's go back."

Stella looked hesitantly at Sting, and then back at Shinn.

"You said you had to go back with him," Shinn said. He looked into Stella's wide eyes.

"...but...Stella will miss Shinn..." she said quietly. Shinn smiled.

"I'll come see you again," he said, "after the war's over."

Stella stared blinkingly at him. "After...the war's over...?"

Shinn took her hand. "I promise."

"...promise..." Stella stared down at his hand in hers. "Promise..."

"Come on," Auel said, taking her by the shoulders. He blinked in surprise. "Why are you all wet?"

"She was drowning," Shinn explained quietly, looking up at Sting and Auel. "I saved her."

Sting gently pulled Stella away. "I see," he said. "Thank you." He looked back at Stella. "We should get going."

"...okay..." Stella murmured quietly, as Sting led her back to the car. She looked over at Shinn.

Sting ushered her into the car; they drove off without a word. Shinn watched them go, the pressure still on his mind.

"It's not possible," he told himself as he got back on the motorcycle. "She can't be the Gaia's pilot. She's just a little girl."

He scowled as he headed off into the city.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_**

Shiho was working on the Savior's operating system when he arrived, unannounced as always. She looked up disdainfully as Heine Westenfluss hopped off the loading gantry and onto the Savior's hatch.

"So this is where you hide out," he said with a sarcastic smile. "It's not good to be hiding from the rest of your team."

Shiho cast him a weary glance. "I have work to do on the Savior's OS," she said, hoping he would pick up the hint.

He didn't. "That's why we have these mechanics running around everywhere," he said, gesturing to the green figures down below. "Like that kid with the orange hair. What's his name? Wino?"

"Vino," Shiho corrected, looking back down at the Savior's instruments, but knowing it would be futile to work with Heine distracting her.

"Well as long as I'm here, I want to be able to get along with my teammates," he said, taking on a somewhat offended air. Shiho glared up at him this time.

"Getting into pissing contests with Shinn won't help, then," she said distastefully. "I normally don't do this, but on this issue I will side with Shinn. Your actions at the Suez Canal were uncalled for."

Heine scowled. "This is war," he said. "Our entire purpose of being here is to kill enough Naturals to convince the rest to leave us alone."

Shiho returned to work, scowling. "They already think we're out to destroy them," she growled. "Let's not give them anymore reason to believe so, alright?" She sat back, glaring back up at Heine. "At any rate, we are only here because the Alliance declared war on us and we are fighting back. We are not here to wipe out the Naturals."

Heine sniffed the air dismissively. "You're too narrow-minded, Shiho," he said. "Who's been the source of all our problems? The Naturals. The Naturals declared war on is in '71. The Naturals nuked Junius 7. The Naturals used that damnable Cyclops System on us at Alaska. The Naturals nuked Boaz. The Naturals tried to nuke us after the Junius 7 drop. When have we _ever_ been the aggressor?"

"Exactly," Shiho said. "We're _never_ the aggressor. So us massacring Naturals makes us no better than Naturals massacring us."

Heine snorted disgustedly. "Attitudes like that will get us all destroyed," he snarled, as he hopped back on the gantry and stalked away.

Shiho sighed in frustration and got back to work.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, near Port Said**

The office was dark, except for a single light from a single screen; the shadows fell eerily over Neo Roanoke's masked face as he read with interest the words ticking by on the screen.

_Well now...I guess our little ambush for the _Minerva _will have to be scrubbed,_ he thought amusedly. A wicked smile spread over his face. _This is _much _more interesting_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	13. Phase 13: The Extended

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 13 - The Extended

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 30th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Lodonia Island, Ionian Sea**

Lodonia Island, from the vantage point of the _Minerva_'s central catapult as the ship steamed towards the island, was a desolate rock with a cluster of equally desolate buildings perched in the center. Already, far ahead in the distance, Shinn could see the enemy carrier coming around the island. Its deck was packed with mobile suits and fighters; however, it was the only ship present. The mobile suits and fighters began to take off; Shinn tightened his fists around the Core Splendor's controls.

"The ship will engage the enemy carrier," Talia's voice said authoritatively through Shinn's cockpit speakers. "Mobile suits, launch and attack the enemy forces!"

In the Core Splendor's cockpit, Shinn narrowed his eyes at the enemy carrier. One ship, a squadron of Jet Dagger Ls, and a wing of Spearhead fighters—this would be easier than infanticide.

"Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, going out!"

The parts docked together to form the Force Impulse, as the _Minerva_'s four other mobile suits launched out of the main catapults. Shinn stared ruefully at his enemies, as the Savior took the lead of the formation.

"All mobile suits," Shiho ordered, "engage the enemy at will, and cover the _Minerva!_"

Shinn clenched his teeth. He saw Stella again; he remembered his promise to see her again after the war was over.

_Then I'll end this war myself!_

The Impulse took off with a roar.

The Daggers opened fire; Shinn dove beneath their blasts and shot one of them down with ease. He swung around, firing again and taking down another. A third attacked him with a bazooka, and a fourth with a missile volley; Shinn narrowed his eyes at them both, cutting the missiles down with a shower of CIWS fire. He dove through the smoke and fired his beam rifle again, shooting down the third Dagger.

The fourth was buffeted by a storm of beam bolts, and went down in flames towards the ocean. The GOUF Ignited swung down into the battle, cutting down another Dagger with its heat rod.

"This is child's play!" Heine laughed.

Overhead, the Savior shot by in mobile armor mode, and shot down two more Daggers with its plasma cannons. Another trio of Daggers rose up after it, beam carbines blazing; the Savior transformed in midair and fired back from behind its shield, taking one of the Daggers down. Another beam blast slashed through the second Dagger; Lunamaria's red ZAKU Warrior swept by on a Guul and showered the third Dagger with missiles, knocking it out of the sky in flames.

Shinn ducked beneath another beam shot and blasted down the attacking Dagger—this _was_ child's play. He glanced towards the carrier; the fighters were beginning to move in. He snorted disgustedly; they would be dispatched easily. The fighters swept in, machineguns blazing; Shinn returned fire with his CIWS, and within moments, two of the fighters went staggering out of the sky, trailing smoke.

A blaze of missiles flashed by, taking down four more fighters; Rey's ZAKU Phantom rocketed through the air, shooting down another fighter with its beam rifle. Shinn dove beneath a missile barrage and shot down the attacking fighter; he turned and fired again, catching one of the remaining Daggers in the chest and destroying it.

Down below, the _Minerva_ was closing in on the enemy carrier. A pair of Daggers swept in with a volley of missiles; the Savior dove into their path, shooting down their missiles with a CIWS burst and destroying both Daggers with a plasma cannon salvo. The _Minerva_ opened fire with its Tristans; the blasts punched through the carrier's bow.

The fighters were dropping like rocks; Shinn backed away, dodging a missile barrage and shooting down yet another fighter. The _Minerva_'s Isolde boomed; the shots slammed into the carrier's deck with a crash and a pall of smoke. A pair of fighters swept in towards the _Minerva_; Lunamaria shot one down with her beam cannon, and the _Minerva_'s CIWS turrets shredded the other

The last three Daggers charged towards the _Minerva_; Shinn dove at them and shot one of them down with ease. The remaining two broke off and fired back; the GOUF's heat rod dragged one down, and Heine gleefully impaled it on his beam sword. The last Dagger began to pull back; Shinn screamed and charged at it. The Dagger fired; Shinn deflected its shots with his shield and fired back, taking it down in a blaze of fire.

The _Minerva_ launched a storm of missiles into the air; a dozen fighters went shrieking out of the sky in flames. Rey shot down another fighter of his own with his beam rifle; Heine slashed one in half with his beam sword. The remaining few fighters tried to retreat; the Savior and the Impulse tore them apart with a blaze of CIWS fire.

Down below, the _Minerva_ fired its Tristans and Isolde simultaneously at the enemy carrier; the shots pounded into it, and a moment later, a thunderous explosion tore the ship apart.

Shinn looked past the ship's desiccated remains, at the installation on Lodonia Island. There was a pressure coming off the island itself; something distinctly _evil_, penetrating him like a knife, digging into the back of his head.

He shook his head and turned the Impulse back towards the _Minerva_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Mediterranean Sea**

The _Girty Lue_ was abuzz with activity as the ship raced at full speed across the Mediterranean Sea, driving for Lodonia Island. On the bridge, the crew was desperately trying to keep the ship in top condition; the _Minerva_ had been tracked heading for Lodonia, and everybody aboard the ship knew that there was an installation there that they could not let ZAFT find.

Neo sat in his usual seat; Lee sat to his left, watching Neo carefully. Somehow, Neo was smiling; Lee could not see what there was to smile at.

"Colonel," one of the men reported, "we've lost contact with the _James Madison._ It appears they've been—"

"Destroyed," Neo finished. He sat back, still smiling. "Looks like ZAFT's going to find one of our evil secrets after all."

"Can we push the engines any faster?" Lee asked.

"Impossible, sir," the helmsman answered. "We would risk damaging them if we tried to squeeze anymore output out of them."

"Don't bother," Neo put in. "We'll just have to settle for destroying them before they can tell anyone about what they find."

Lee gripped the armrests of his chair uneasily. "We've fought the _Minerva_ twice before," he said, "and neither battle has yielded us positive results."

"Patience, Lee," Neo said. "This time we have them cornered and on their own."

Lee glanced distastefully at Neo. He always seemed to be smiling.

"This time," Neo said, "our three little angels will have to perform better."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Lodonia Island, Ionian Sea**

"What...what the hell _is_ this place?!"

Arthur Trine's voice echoed throughout the corridor. Arthur stood with Talia and the _Minerva_'s mobile suit pilots, wielding flashlights inside the darkened building. Everywhere there was death, everywhere there was destruction, everywhere there was decay.

And everywhere, there were bodies.

Shinn Asuka stared in disbelief at the corpses littering the hallway. The corridor reeked of rotting flesh, so much that he held a hand over his nose and mouth, his eyes watering. The bodies were those of children; a few adults in white coats were scattered around as well, along with a handful of men in Earth Alliance uniforms, but the overwhelming and horrifying majority of the bodies were children. Some bore festering bullet wounds, while others were in the grotesque contortions of nerve gas poisoning.

"Those monsters!" Heine shouted, pounding his fist against a wall. "How _dare_ they do this to children! What the hell _are_ they?!"

Talia cast her flashlight's beam across the hallway, holding a white handkerchief to her face to block out the hideous smell. At her side, Shiho stared in horror at it all; Lunamaria covered her face, her eyes shimmering with tears. And Rey remained impassive, staring emotionlessly at the bodies.

"There must've been some kind of conflict," Talia said through her handkerchief. "A rebellion…or something…" She slowly approached a heavy steel door with a switch next to it. Heine pressed the switch; the door rumbled open, and they stepped into the revealed room.

Arthur collapsed to his knees, holding his hands over his mouth, his flashlight clattering to the ground. Lunamaria shrieked in terror; Shiho, Talia, Heine, and Shinn stared in disbelief...and Rey scowled, as though he'd expected it.

The room was walled with tiny cabinets. In each cabinet was a human brain, with wires attached where the spinal cord normally would have been, floating in some kind of chemical bath. At one end of the room was a computer terminal, but all anyone could do was stare at the human brains lining the wall.

"_WHAT THE HELL IS THIS PLACE?!_" Arthur screamed.

Talia proceeded slowly towards the terminal; the rest continued to stare in horror at the room. Shinn wandered towards one of the corpses; he knelt down in front of it, staring at its hollow face. It was a little girl; she couldn't have been any older than Mayu.

Shinn stood up and backed away, tears stinging his eyes. There was death and decay everywhere; it was pressing him down, like a weight on his shoulders.

At the terminal, Talia gasped in shock; the others made their way towards her.

"What is this place, Captain?" Shiho asked quietly, staring at the screen.

"'CE 64, received sixteen new specimens,'" she read slowly, staring disbelievingly at the screen. "'CE 65, five specimens of Generation Nine deemed unsuitable for further testing and...liquidated.'" She blinked in horror. "This is...the specimen's—the children's...'entry records,' you could say."

"_Entry records?!_" Heine echoed. "Those _barbarians!_"

"W-What are they _doing_ to these children?" Luna asked in horror, her eyes flicking around in disbelief.

Talia continued to read. "The Earth Alliance's 'Extended,'" she said softly. "This is their lab...and...production facility." She paused as she read another line. "The Earth Alliance and Blue Cosmos, who say that manipulating genes is against the laws of nature, are using drugs and indoctrination to create soldiers that can surpass Coordinators in battle...human beings meant only for fighting."

"_Bastards!_" Heine shouted, bringing his fist down onto the console.

Shinn stared in horror over Talia's shoulder at the screen, and the entries of the children the Earth Alliance had turned into weapons. A word caught his attention; his eyes widened in horror.

"Wait!" he exclaimed, grabbing Talia's hand before she could change the screen. She blinked in surprise as Shinn reloaded a set of records.

The words "Stella Loussier" appeared on the screen. Shinn gasped in horror; there was Stella's face, staring blankly at him.

He backed away, coming up against the wall, staring in shock at the screen.

"Stella!" he exclaimed. "It...it can't be! She _can't_ be!"

"Who...?" Talia started, looking back at the screen.

"Is this the girl you met yesterday?" Shiho asked, coming forward and touching Shinn's arm, trying to get his attention.

"She can't be one of these, these..." He trailed off as words failed him and horror filled him. It couldn't be possible; not Stella. She just wanted to be protected. She just wanted to be safe. She couldn't be one of these Earth Alliance super-soldiers. She couldn't be an Extended. She couldn't—

"He met someone yesterday?" Talia asked, glancing at Shiho.

"He returned to the _Minerva_ soaking wet and with those scars on his face," Shiho explained, "and when I asked what happened, he explained that he had saved a drowning girl." She glanced at the screen. "I guess this was who he saved."

Shinn was still staring at the screen.

"It can't be Stella," he murmured to himself. "It can't be...it _can't_ be..."

"Shinn—" Luna started.

"_It's not possible!_" Shinn screamed.

Rey swept in to seize Shinn by the shoulders and push him out of the room wordlessly.

Inside the room, Talia glanced at Arthur. "We're heading back to the ship," she said grimly. "Order the search teams to gather as much information as they can. We'll send for a team of experts to survey the complex themselves."

"Y-Yes ma'am," Arthur stammered with a quavering salute.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Rey stood with Shinn outside the Lodonia complex; the area was already swarming with ZAFT soldiers from the _Minerva_, and they were already gathering information. Shinn sat on a large rock, his head in his hands, staring incredulously at the ground.

"She just wanted to be safe," Shinn murmured. "She...she couldn't be one of these..."

"This is why we are fighting for Gil's new world," Rey said, kneeling in front of Shinn and speaking to him sternly and sincerely. "This is why you must suffer now; so that you and children like Stella can have a world where none of you don't have to."

Shinn looked up desolately at Rey.

"She...she just wanted to be safe..." Shinn said chokingly, almost as if Rey wasn't there. "She just...she just..."

Rey took Shinn by the shoulders, catching his attention.

"Shinn," he said. "You are different. You have a power ordinary humans, Natural or Coordinator, could never have. You have a gift of power. You must use it." He glanced meaningfully at the Lodonia complex. "In here, they have made children suffer in pursuit of a perfect human weapon. Out here, they make you suffer in pursuit of destruction of the PLANTs. Gil's new world will erase this all. Gil's new world will give you a home, where you no longer have to fight. Gil's new world will ensure that people will never again do what was done in this lab. Gil's new world will take away your suffering. But you have to be strong. The world has never changed without suffering; you will have to suffer now and continue fighting, but when the fighting ends, you will have a world where you no longer have to suffer."

"R-Rey," Shinn said chokingly.

"You are sad because someone as gentle and kind as Stella has turned out to be a tool of the Alliance," Rey continued. "Take your sorrow and transform it into will, into power, into strength; you have to be strong, to create a world where you and Stella don't have to suffer."

Shinn stared disconsolately at Rey; he let go of Shinn and stood back up.

"I will remain by your side," Rey said. "You will never have to fight alone."

Shinn looked up at Rey; he stared back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 31st, CE 73 - Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, near Lodonia Island**

The Chaos Gundam stood in the port catapult; inside, Sting Oakley was tense and nervous. He glanced at his screen; Auel looked angry, but that was most likely a front for his own feelings.

"I don't want to be back here," Auel said shortly. "I don't want to come back."

"We're not going back inside," Sting reminded him. "We're just fighting to get rid of that ZAFT ship."

"I don't care," Auel said. "This is the place where..." He trailed off painfully.

"Damned Neo," Sting growled. "Dragging us back here again." He paused and keyed up a line to the Gaia. "Stella," he began.

Stella was staring at Lodonia.

"Lodonia...lab..." she murmured.

"Will you be alright, Stella?" Sting asked. Stella blinked and looked at him.

"Stella...doesn't wanna go back," she said softly.

"That makes two of us," Auel grunted.

"Why do we have to go back?" she asked, looking earnestly at Sting.

"Neo told us to take out that ZAFT ship," he explained. Stella blinked, obviously not understanding.

"...but...Neo didn't protect..."

Sting shrugged. "Orders are orders," he said. "We have to follow them, or else."

"Fucking Neo," Auel snarled.

The hangar operator appeared on Sting's screen. "RGX-01 Chaos is clear for launch."

Sting closed the visor of his helmet. "Sting Oakley, Chaos, launching!"

The Chaos launched with a blast of exhaust; its Phase Shift activated with a flash, and the mobile suit took off with a roar.

Sting glanced over his shoulder; the Abyss skimmed over the water, the Gaia and Windam flew after him, and the _Girty Lue_'s six Dark Dagger Ls came up behind Neo's Windam. The Windam took the lead in the formation, and Neo's masked face appeared on Sting's screen.

"All units, listen up," he said, with a strange smile on his face. "Currently the ZAFT battleship _Minerva_ is on Lodonia Island, playing with something they really shouldn't be playing with. We are going to go take it away. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" the Dagger pilots answered. Sting scowled, strangling his protests in his throat, and nodded wordlessly.

"Good," Neo said. "Today we sink the _Minerva_, once and for all!"

The mobile suits roared off into the sky.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Force Impulse formed in midair as the _Minerva_'s mobile suits launched; up ahead, Shinn could barely see the shapes of Bogey 1's mobile suits charging at them.

"They might be trying to destroy the facility," Shiho warned as the Savior rose into the air. "If they are, they might be carrying special weapons."

"Then we'll take them all down!" Heine snarled. "Those barbarians won't survive today!"

The sky was dark with clouds; it was already pouring rain. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky; Shinn narrowed his eyes at the oncoming enemies.

_For Stella's sake,_ he thought, _I'll end this damned war and build a new world!_

The mobile suits approached; he felt the pressure from the Gaia once again.

_It's the same...the same as Stella..._

The Gaia opened fire with its beam rifle; Shinn deflected its shot with his shield and fired back. The Gaia switched to its beam saber and charged, slamming its saber down against Shinn's shield. He drew his own saber and swung back; the Gaia darted away, firing its beam cannons. Shinn dove over the shots, and the Gaia and Impulse met with a shower of sparks.

"You can't be Stella!" Shinn shouted at the Gaia. "You're not Stella!"

The Gaia surged forward; Shinn grunted under the pressure and swung back with his saber. The Gaia deflected its saber stroke and retaliated with its own; Shinn batted it aside, and the mobile suits burst apart with a blaze of exhaust. The Gaia showered Shinn with beam shots and CIWS fire; Shinn rocketed through the sky, taking cover behind his shield. He charged forward again, saber drawn back for another blow, but once again the Gaia blocked his swing, and the two mobile suits pushed and strained against each other in midair.

Shinn clenched his teeth as the Gaia struggled against him.

_You won't get in my way!_

The Impulse surged, throwing the Gaia back. It rocketed up into the air; Shinn followed with a scream.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shiho grunted as the Chaos's beam shots slammed against the Savior's shield, forcing it back. She fired back with her plasma cannons, but the Chaos jetted to the side. An instant later, she found herself staring the Chaos in the face as it rammed her with its shield. The Savior tumbled towards the ocean; the Chaos lined up for a finishing shot, but the GOUF Ignited's heat rod curled around its beam rifle. Heine yanked the rifle out of the Chaos's hand with his left-hand heat rod and slashed it in half with his beam sword. As Shiho struggled to recollect her wits, the Chaos drew its beam saber and charged at the GOUF, and the two mobile suits met with a crash.

"No you don't, Natural bastard!" Heine shouted; the GOUF heaved forward, pushing the Chaos away, and attacked with upraised beam sword. The Chaos and the GOUF slammed together, swords crossed.

Shiho glanced over her shoulder at the _Minerva_ and Bogey 1. The _Minerva_ opened fire with a storm of missiles; Bogey 1 cut them all down with a CIWS burst and fired back with its beam cannons, and the _Minerva_ quickly banked to port and barely dodged the blasts. Shiho took off towards Bogey 1, reverting the Savior to its mobile armor mode, but a blaze of beam fire rose to meet her, and down below, she saw the Abyss darting along the water, its shoulder shells open.

"They're always in our way," Shiho growled, transforming the Savior again and opening fire with her beam rifle. The Abyss darted away from her shots, but Lunamaria's ZAKU came diving in on its Guul with its beam cannon, and the Abyss was forced to leap into the air and dodge her blast.

"Always harassing us!" Shiho shouted, wheeling around towards Bogey 1. Its CIWS turrets blazed, filling the sky will bullets; Shiho cursed as two black Daggers swept in with bazookas, opening fire. She scowled, drawing back behind her shield and drawing a beam saber. "Today you're going down!"

One of the Daggers drew a beam saber and swept in; Shiho deflected its swing, forcing its arm upward, and slashed off its left arm with a lightning-quick slash. The Dagger pulled back, firing its bazooka at her and knocking her backward.

A beam blast tore by as Shiho regained her balance; the beam shot drilled through the Dagger, destroying it, and Rey's ZAKU Phantom rocketed by overhead on its Guul, with the purple Alliance mobile suit on its tail.

There was a thundering explosion; Shiho looked sharply over at the _Minerva_, and found it spewing smoke as a thick beam blast blew off its portside Tristan. It fired back with its remaining Tristan; a moment later, the blast destroyed two of Bogey 1's beam cannons, and both ships reeled from each other's blows.

"Dammit," Shiho grunted, turning towards Bogey 1 again. The ship opened fire with its CIWS emplacements; Shiho dove through their fire and charged.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"_DIE_ you motherfucker!" Auel screamed; the Abyss streaked along the water and unleashed a flurry of beam shots on the trailing red ZAKU Warrior. It deflected two of the beams with its shield and dodged the rest; Auel snarled a curse and fired his chest cannon at the ZAKU's Guul. The ZAKU rocketed up into the air, dodging the shot; Auel fired the booster, leaping up after the ZAKU and raising his beam lance. "Go to hell!" He brought the lance down on the ZAKU, igniting the beam blade.

The ZAKU took the brunt of the Abyss's blow to its shield, and forced the lance to the side, swinging its arm out to knock the Abyss's lance wide. Auel snarled again as the ZAKU raised its beam cannon and fired; he responded by firing his chest cannon again, and the two blasts smashed into each other with a forceful explosion that threw both mobile suits back. Auel glided over the water, firing the boosters again to dart over the water's surface and fire at the ZAKU.

A storm of missiles from the Guul smashed down into the water around the Abyss; Auel burst through the smoke with a scream, firing his weapons wildly. Up above, the ZAKU banked out of the way of an errant beam shot and fired its beam cannon again, but missed as Auel darted out of harm's way.

"Fucking bastard!" Auel screamed. The ZAKU fired its beam cannon a second time; Auel cancelled it out with a chest cannon shot and dove over the explosion, twirling his lance over his head. "_DIE ALREADY!_"

The Abyss slammed its lance down onto the ZAKU's shield, and kicked the ZAKU in the chest before it could force his lance aside. The ZAKU drew a beam tomahawk from its shield with its left hand and hurled it at him, and he barely deflected it with his shoulder shell.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Auel shouted as he returned to skimming along the water. "Just die like you're supposed to!" He opened fire with another blaze of beam fire, this time putting a shot through the ZAKU's beam cannon; it abandoned the cannon in midair, using it as a shield to block Auel's follow-up chest cannon attack. As the cannon exploded, the ZAKU dove up above the blast and returned fire with its beam rifle.

Auel blocked the shots with his shoulder shield, but blinked in surprise as the world seemed to shake for a moment. He glanced up at the _Girty Lue_; it had lost two of its six Gottfrieds and taken several punishing hits to its hull. It fired back with its upper starboard Gottfried, shooting down a storm of missiles with its CIWS in the process. Auel followed the _Girty Lue_'s shot and watched it slam into the _Minerva_'s hull just above the starboard wing. A forceful explosion tore up the _Minerva_'s side. The _Minerva_ fired back with its triple cannon, though, and the _Girty Lue_ lost another Gottfried.

"Fucking ZAFT bastards!" Auel shouted. "Just die already!"

The ZAKU fired at him with its beam rifle; Auel screamed and fired back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Impulse rumbled as the Gaia brought its beam saber down; Shinn clenched his teeth, his entire body jolted with a current of pressure from the pilot. He felt Stella's distorted presence again; he saw her again, soaking wet in the shallows near Port Said, staring at him with wide, frightened eyes.

"_YOU CAN'T BE STELLA!_" he shrieked, surging forward. The Gaia raised its shield; Shinn slammed it backward with a punishing kick, and the Gaia staggered away, firing its CIWS. Shinn grunted as the bullets rattled against the Impulse's Phase Shift armor. He screamed as the Gaia took off, diving backward through the sky, firing its beam cannons. Shinn deflected its shots with his shield, charging after the retreating Gaia.

"_I'LL KILL YOU!_" Shinn screamed. "_I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU BEFORE YOU CAN EVER HURT STELLA!_"

The Gaia lunged forward; Shinn ducked beneath its beam saber swipe and charged up behind it.

The Gaia ducked desperately underneath Shinn's finishing saber stab and rocketed backward, over the island. Shinn gave chase with a scream, beam saber pulled back, deflecting the Gaia's beam cannon blasts with his shield.

"_STOP RUNNING!_" Shinn shouted; the Impulse roared after the Gaia. The Gaia swung around for another attack; Shinn saw the seed explode in his mind's eye—

The Gaia's saber slammed down against Shinn's; the Impulse kicked the Gaia's arm skyward, and with a primal scream, Shinn slashed open the Gaia's cockpit and kicked it in the chest. The stricken Gaia slammed into the ground, skidding to a smoking halt amidst a copse of trees. Shinn landed in the trench the Gaia had torn into the ground and charged, beam saber raised for the kill—

Something caught his eye; he stopped, staring at the Gaia's torn armor. He magnified the image; his dull, feral eyes went wide in horror.

There was a pilot in a black flight suit with pink markings; the helmet in its entirety had been shattered and lay around the Gaia's broken cockpit. Underneath, framed by blood-matted blonde hair, was a face Shinn knew all too well.

"That's..."

He magnified the image again; he saw her face; his entire body went numb with disbelief.

"...Stella!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Across the battlefield, inside the Chaos, Sting glanced at the island. He saw the Impulse Gundam, standing victoriously over the fallen Gaia. His eyes widened in shock.

"Stella!" he shouted. The Savior rocketed into his face; Sting let out a feral growl and kicked the Savior in the face. He immediately went rocketing towards the island.

Down below, a pilot in a red ZAFT flight suit was pulling Stella out of the Gaia's cockpit. Sting charged, screaming, and opened fire with his CIWS—

The white ZAKU Phantom darted into his line of fire, deflecting his shots with its shield and ramming into him head-on.

"Sting!" Neo's voice shouted; above the Windam came darting in with a beam rifle blast. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Stella's being captured!" Sting shouted back.

"Not if I can help it!" Auel cried; the Abyss darted over the water towards the island, but a beam shot stopped it and the red ZAKU flashed in over its head, ramming it aside.

Sting dove towards the island, dodging the ZAKUs' beam shots, but it was already too late; the ZAFT pilot returned to the Impulse's cockpit, with Stella in his arms.

"Retrieve the Gaia!" Neo shouted. "We won't be able to get Stella back now!"

"_WHAT?!_" Sting shouted; his eyes flashed and he looked up in rage at Neo's purple Windam. Up above, the orange GOUF Ignited sliced a Dark Dagger in half, ducking underneath the explosion.

"The ship's been damaged too badly!" Neo yelled back. "We're retreating!"

"But Stella—" Auel began.

"_DO IT!_" Neo roared.

The Chaos and the Abyss hesitated, and then swept in to seize the fallen Gaia and pull it up into the air.

Neo showered the ZAFT mobile suits with a storm of missiles; he could already see the _Minerva_, staggering out of the air and spewing clouds of smoke and fire. They had at least done some damage to the ship, but at the cost of Stella and every one of his Dark Daggers.

He scowled and glanced back at the Chaos and Abyss as they hauled the Gaia into the ailing _Girty Lue_'s hangar. This was a complication he had not foreseen.

The Windam took off as the _Girty Lue_ escaped.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Lodonia Island, Ionian Sea**

Shinn started running as soon as his feet touched the ground. He plowed through Yolant and Vino before the latter could speak, storming towards the infirmary. Stella was unconscious in his arms; Shinn's eyes were still dull and feral, now as he concentrated solely on getting Stella to the infirmary. Nobody would stop him; he'd go through Chairman Dullindal if he had to.

The ship shook as the mobile suits returned; Shinn smashed like a raging bull through the corridors and their crowded crews as they tried to repair the _Minerva_'s vast damage. He rammed the infirmary door switch with his shoulder; it slid open and Shinn burst into the room like a tornado.

"What the—" the head doctor began.

"Help her!" Shinn shouted. He thrust Stella into his arms. "You have to help her!"

"But—what—who is she?" the doctor exclaimed. Shinn laid Stella out on an operating table.

"Goddammit, _HELP HER!_" Shinn roared, grabbing the doctor by the collar and screaming in his face. The cowed doctor shakily assented and backed away towards Stella as the nurses converged on her and set to work pulling her out of her shredded flight suit.

Shiho was the next to burst into the infirmary, followed closely by the other pilots.

"Shinn!" Shiho shouted, advancing towards him like a freight train. "You left the battlefield without orders! What the hell were you thinking?!" She raised her hand to slap him—

Shinn swiveled around, catching her blow and shoving her back. The pilots fell silent, staring uneasily at his wild, lightless eyes.

"I'm not going to abandon her to die!" he shouted.

Lunamaria blinked in surprise, noticing tears at the edges of Shinn's eyes.

"What you did was against ZAFT military law!" Heine yelled back, putting himself in front of Shiho and pointing vindictively at Shinn. "You have no right to take enemy prisoners aboard of your own free will!"

Shinn's eyes flashed. "This is Stella!"

The room fell silent, save for the sounds of the medical crew working on Stella.

"She's one of _those_...?" Luna trailed off, looking at the bloodied girl on the operating table. "This is who you met the other day...?"

"I promised her I would protect her!" Shinn snarled. "I promised her I wouldn't let her die! And here I am, protecting her and not letting her die! I won't let _any_ of you get in my way! I'll protect her with my life if I have to!"

"Shinn!" Shiho snapped. "Calm down! You can't expect us to let you off just because you have an emotional attachment to this Earth Alliance science project! What you did was criminal—"

"_SHUT UP!_" Shinn screamed, with enough force to strangle the rest of Shiho's words in her throat. Shinn straightened up, looking like a cornered animal, ready to spring, balling his fists and casting over the rest of the _Minerva_'s pilots a chilling glare. "If you want to hurt her, you'll have to go through me! I'll kill all of you if I have to!" Luna gasped in disbelief, her eyes going wide; Rey blinked in surprise. "_I WILL PROTECT STELLA!_"

"What the hell is with your hang-up on her?" Heine shouted back, unfazed by Shinn's anger. He approached slowly, glowering back at Shinn.

"She wants to be safe!" Shinn snapped back. "She relied on me to be safe! She trusted me! _SHE CARED ABOUT ME!_"

Rey stepped in front of Heine, stopping him.

"Shinn is already angry," he said calmly. "Don't make him angrier, or you will be spending a great deal more time in this room."

Heine snarled furiously at Shinn and Rey, and stalked out of the room, sputtering curses.

"I won't forget this, Shinn!" Shiho snapped, pointing vehemently at him. "Just because you're a war hero in the PLANTs and you captured a live Extended doesn't mean you'll walk off from this! You're still subject to the law!" She stormed out of the infirmary, shoving Luna aside angrily.

Rey turned to face Shinn. "Shinn," he began.

Shinn turned his blazing eyes on Rey next. "Don't start with another speech about the Chairman, Rey!" he growled. "You told me to fight for the sake of a new world for Stella, and I did, and now look where she is!" His face twisted into a hideous scowl. "Ever since the Chairman brought all this Newtype shit into my life, all I've done is suffer, and all you've done is keep shoving it down my throat! Well look where it's gotten me now! Tell the Chairman to go to hell! Tell Kira Yamato to go to hell! And _you_ can go to hell too! I'm not going to be the world's goddamn punching bag!"

Rey's eyes went wide as Shinn spoke. He opened his mouth, but for once, no sound could come out; he had nothing to say.

"...scary..." a weak voice murmured. Shinn's eyes went wide; he spun around and shoved the nurses apart, leaning over Stella. He took her hand gently, his eyes brimming with tears.

"Stella..." he murmured. "I...I'm sorry..."

"...it's...scary..." she murmured. She blinked and looked around slowly. Her eyes began to widen; for a moment, they flashed, and then Shinn was thrown backward as Stella leapt up, screaming and thrashing. The nurses and doctors ducked as she launched herself off the operating table and straight at the head doctor.

Shinn seized her by the shoulders in midair and pulled her close.

"Stella!" he shouted. "Calm down, Stella!"

"Scary!" she shrieked. "Stella wants to go back to Neo! It's scary!"

"Calm down!" Shinn shouted back. "Nobody will hurt you!"

"_STELLA DOESN'T WANNA DIE!_" Stella screamed. She struggled and thrashed against Shinn's grip; Shinn wheeled her around to look into her terrified face.

"Stella!" he shouted. "I'll protect you!"

Stella blinked, seeing Shinn's face, the three scars she had left there. Her body relaxed as she stared at Shinn.

"I'll protect you," Shinn panted. "Remember? Do you remember me? Shinn?"

"Shinn..." she murmured. Her bandages had fallen off in the struggle; she was bleeding again. Her eyelids drooped; Shinn glanced at the medical crew as they stared in fright at Stella.

"Just stay calm," Shinn said soothingly. "The people here will take care of you. They'll help you get better. None of them will hurt you. I'll make sure of it."

"Shinn...will...protect..." she whispered. She went limp; Shinn stared expectantly at the head doctor, and the medical crew hesitantly put her back on the operating table and went back to work on her.

Rey glanced furtively at Luna, and they both left; Shinn remained, watching, with tears in his eyes.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 1st, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Mediterranean Sea, en route to Egypt**

Talia rubbed her aching temple in frustration, sitting in the Captain's chair on the bridge. Shiho and Heine stood off to the side, both looking outraged.

"Our first priority is to get back to Port Said," Talia said, straightening up and looking authoritatively at Shiho and Heine. "The ship is heavily damaged, and we barely managed to get it back in flying condition last night. We are going back to Port Said; after that we will deal with disciplinary measures."

"He's violent!" Heine protested, clenching his fists in rage. "He threatened to kill us!"

"I told you, we'll deal with this later!" Talia snapped, rising and staring furiously at him. Heine blinked in surprise, taking an involuntary step back. "Yes, he threatened to kill you and he represents a threat. But he also brought us a live Extended, and took the Gaia out of commission for the time being. It's of no consequence right now. None of it will matter if we don't get back to Port Said for repairs." She scowled at Heine. "You are both dismissed."

Her glare said everything; Heine stormed off the bridge without bothering to salute. Shiho saluted duly, looking defeated, and slowly followed Heine.

"But why would Shinn do something like this?" Arthur asked quietly, glancing at Talia. She slumped into her seat, muttering in frustration.

"I don't know," she said, "but this is a matter I don't need right now." She glanced up at Arthur. "We'll be at Port Said soon. Inform them that we require emergency assistance."

Arthur saluted promptly. "Yes ma'am."

Talia stared forward, out the bridge windows.

_Shinn...what grave are you digging for us now?_

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	14. Phase 14: To Do What is Right

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 14 - To Do What is Right

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 1st, CE 73 - Athens Naval Installation, Greece, Eurasian Federation**

"What do you _mean_ 'we're going to wait?!'" Sting screamed.

He stood on the _Girty Lue_'s deck, staring furiously at Neo. Auel was at his side, looking just as outraged. Lee was nearby as well, and the crews working feverishly on the _Girty Lue_'s repairs stopped their work to stare in surprise.

"I mean what I said," Neo said, one hand on his hip condescendingly. "The reports indicate that the _Minerva_ has returned to Port Said. We have no hope of attacking a base of that size by ourselves. We will have to try a different approach to get Stella back."

"How can you _say_ that?!" Auel shouted. "We're not leaving her behind!"

"It's too dangerous to leave her there!" Sting added furiously. "They'll tear her apart!"

As Neo stood there, calmly weathering a storm of verbal abuse from Sting and Auel, Lee looked away. He remembered his encounter with Stella on the _Girty Lue_'s deck at Yokosuka Naval Station. She was a simple, kind little girl who liked the sea. She had no business being on the battlefield at all, let alone as a prisoner.

He looked at Neo. "Colonel," he said, "Sting and Auel raise valid points. We have to do _something_ to get Stella back. If we leave her in ZAFT's hands, then ZAFT will know much more about the Extended than they would have had they just discovered Lodonia."

Neo glanced distastefully at Lee. "So now you're on their side too?" he asked scornfully. "Fine. I'll get a carrier and some mobile suits. We'll go after them." He scowled. "But don't hold your breath."

Lee didn't miss a beat. "I never do."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Port Said Naval Base, Egypt, Muslim League**

Shinn had become a fixture in the _Minerva_'s sickbay; every moment he had to spare was spent at Stella's side, though she was rarely cognizant enough to realize he was there. She had calmed down by now, but this was hardly good news; she was dying. Even Shinn could see that. At nights, when the medical staff ushered him out of the sickbay and all but injected him with tranquilizers to make him sleep, Shinn spent his nights going over the information ZAFT had obtained about the Extended— until Rey finally got irritated enough to swiftly force a sedative down his throat and knock him out.

The nurses were frantic when Shinn entered the sickbay; Stella's vital signs were dropping. Shinn looked around in a panic; the head doctor shouted orders to the medical staff. At the center of the commotion, Stella lay deathly still; Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief. She couldn't be taken from him; not now.

Shinn couldn't bear to watch them jabbing Stella with needles and injecting chemicals into her; he turned away and tried to shut out the sounds. Once again he felt the pressure; Stella was afraid, but this was a vague, confused fear, as if she was sure that there was something around her to be afraid of, but she wasn't sure what.

Shinn waited painfully until the medics had stabilized her condition. He approached cautiously, as the medics cleaned everything up, frustrated.

"Shinn..." she whispered, cracking open her eyes to stare painfully at him. "Shinn...said he'd...protect...Stella..."

Shinn felt his eyes fill with tears. "I know, Stella," he choked out.

Stella's hand took his weakly. "Shinn...promised..."

Shinn looked into her eyes; the light in them was fading away. Her eyes were slowly being surrounded by dark rings; her breath was still shallow and labored.

"I'm sorry, Stella," he whispered, on the verge of tears. "But...but I don't know what to do."

"...Shinn..." she breathed. She closed her eyes and laid back; Shinn's eyes widened in horror, but a moment later he realized that she had simply gone to sleep.

"Shinn," one of the nurses said gently, taking him by the shoulder and pulling him away from Stella's bed. "You should leave. We'll need to perform surgery to keep her stable."

"What?" Shinn asked with a gasp. The head doctor turned from a cabinet, as he donned a pair of surgical gloves.

"We've been ordered to keep her as stable as possible for as long as possible," he explained. "I wouldn't be able to explain the specifics right now. However, for Stella's sake, I'll have to ask you to leave the room for the operation."

Shinn glanced back hesitantly at Stella, before he looked down sullenly at the floor and ducked out of the room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Athens Naval Station, Greece, Eurasian Federation**

Neo Roanoke was shaken out of his sleep by the sound of explosions. He donned his mask and staggered up to the window of his room aboard the _Girty Lue_—smoke was rising from the ship. He angrily activated the intercom to the bridge. Lee was already there, looking stressed.

"Lee! What the hell was that?!" Neo exclaimed. Lee looked tiredly at him.

"Sting and Auel just launched," he said.

"_WHAT?!_" Neo screamed. "Stop them!"

"They've already blasted their way out, and they're threatening to shoot down any mobile suits we send after them," Lee responded. Neo growled in rage, pounding his fist against the wall.

"What the hell do they think they're _doing?!_" he snarled. Lee paused for a moment.

"They said they're going to rescue Stella," Lee said.

Neo blinked in disbelief for a moment.

"Those fools!" he exclaimed. "They can't get her out of Port Said! They won't even get close! What were those idiots thinking?" He slammed his fist against the wall again. "We can't launch _anything_ to pursue them?!"

"No sir," Lee said, "none of our mobile suits are operational."

Neo stared out the window furiously.

_How the hell did they get so rebellious...?_

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Mediterranean Sea**

"Neo's gonna kick our asses for this when we get back," Auel warned; the Abyss Gundam streaked along the water, with the Chaos flying next to it. Sting glanced warily at Auel.

"Since when did you care what Neo thinks?" he asked with a smirk.

"I don't," Auel said, sounding slightly offended. "I mean, I'm totally on your side with this. But, y'know, he's still gonna be pissed."

"Neo can go to hell," Sting snorted. "If _he_ isn't gonna do anything to get Stella back, then _we_ will."

"Just fair warning," Auel said. "So what's our plan?"

"You attack the _Minerva_ underwater," Sting instructed with a hint of authority. "The Abyss is designed for that. I'll distract their mobile suits in the air."

"By yourself?" Auel asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I'll manage," Sting said dismissively. "Just make it quick. Get onto the _Minerva_, find Stella, and get out."

"Okay," Auel said with a sigh. "Fuck, Neo should be the one doing this. Stella always thought he'd protect her."

"If Neo won't protect Stella, we will," Sting said. "_Someone_ will protect her. She's owed that much." Auel glanced inquisitively at Sting. "You remember, on Lodonia, don't you?"

"How could I not?" Auel growled, clenching his fists around the Abyss's controls.

"We both remember," Sting hissed. "She was just an innocent little girl, all she wanted was to be hanging out by the sea, she just didn't want to die...so they took her and...you remember, that night, don't you?"

Auel's face darkened. "I know," he said dourly. "She was gone for six months, and when they brought her back..." He trailed off.

"They _raped_ us," Sting snarled. "They took us, they violated us, they _altered_ us. I won't forgive them for it. Someday I'll pay them back for it."

Auel glanced at Sting. "What do you mean?"

Sting clenched his teeth angrily. "You remember," he said, "all the training, all the classes, all the surgeries and therapies. _I_ remember. They turned us into their little war machines, and there's nothing we can do about it now. The most we can do is stick together and wait until the time comes when we can fight back against the bastards that did this to us."

Auel said nothing.

"Until then," Sting said, "we have to stand by each other. It's the only way we'll ever eventually be free and get to lead the lives we want."

"No we can't," Auel said quietly. Sting glanced at him in surprise. "I mean...we're Extended."

"So?" Sting asked.

"We'll never stop being Extended," Auel added. "We'll always have it, we'll always have the modifications and the block words. We can't leave it behind."

"No, we can't," Sting agreed solemnly. "But we'll make the most of our lives anyways, even if we are Extended. No asshole with a bucket on his head will control us forever."

Auel smirked. "I like the way you think, Sting."

Sting smirked back. "'Course you do. Now let's go rescue Stella."

The Abyss and the Chaos took off.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Port Said Naval Base, Egypt, Muslim League**

The wailing alarm was cutting into Shinn's mind like a knife as he strapped himself into the Core Splendor's cockpit, not even bothering with his flight suit. The bridge reported that two mobile suits were approaching; Shinn silently swore to himself that he would protect the _Minerva_ at all costs. He could not let Stella die.

"Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, going out!"

The Force Impulse formed in the night sky and took off towards the horizon before the Savior Gundam and GOUF Ignited had a chance to launch. Shinn glanced over his shoulder distastefully at them; two FAITH members hanging over his head.

Far ahead, inside the Chaos, Sting narrowed his eyes at the Impulse.

"It's the combiner," he growled.

"The bastard who took Stella!" Auel exclaimed. "I'll tear his fucking head off!"

"That's my job," Sting said quickly. "Your job is to get her back."

Auel paused for a moment. "Right," he said resignedly. "You have fun, then." The Abyss transformed to its mobile armor mode and dove underwater.

Inside the Impulse, Shinn raised his beam rifle, aiming at the Chaos Gundam. He sneered at his opponent.

"You won't lay a finger on the _Minerva_," he snarled. "I'll make sure of it!"

The Chaos fired a storm of missiles; Shinn scowled and cut them down with a CIWS burst. A cloud of smoke rose up in front of him; the Chaos dove through it with a beam rifle barrage, pounding its shots against the Impulse's shield. Shinn cursed under his breath and dove to his right, dodging the Chaos as it stormed forward, its beam claws ignited. As the Chaos turned back towards the Impulse, the GOUF charged towards the Chaos with its beam sword raised.

"Now I've got you!" Heine cried. Sting glared back at the GOUF.

"No you don't!" he shouted. The Chaos fired its booster, diving up over the GOUF's head; Heine's eyes widened in disbelief—

The GOUF shuddered as Sting sliced its right arm off at the shoulder and right leg at the knee. With a final kick to the side, the GOUF went tumbling into the ocean.

"Heine!" Shiho exclaimed; the Savior darted across the sky in mobile armor mode, opening fire on the Chaos. Sting twisted out of the path of its shots and fired back with a beam cannon barrage of his own; the Savior transformed to mobile suit mode to deflect the Chaos's shots with its shield.

"Where did he _come from?!_" Shiho grunted as the Savior rattled. She raised her beam rifle to return fire, but the Chaos showered missiles on her before she could pull the trigger. As she cut the missiles down with her CIWS, she saw Shinn charge at the Chaos, beam rifle blazing.

"You won't touch Stella!" Shinn screamed, ramming into the Chaos with his shield and forcing the Chaos aside. The Chaos slammed the Impulse in the stomach with its own shield and boosted away, firing its beam rifle.

"Shinn! Shoot at him from below!" Shiho shouted, as she transformed the Savior back to mobile armor mode. She took off into the sky, lining up for a shot from the Savior's cannons—

The Savior rocked violently as a flurry of beam cannon shots blew off its cannons and one of its legs, knocking it out of the sky with a trail of smoke. Shiho stared in disbelief at the water as the Abyss Gundam burst out of the ocean, shoulder shells open.

"Auel!" Sting shouted. "You're supposed to be attacking the _Minerva!_"

"They closed off the port!" Auel yelled back; he opened fire with a beam cannon blaze on the Impulse, as it dove out of the way. "I guess we'll both take out that combining motherfucker!"

Sting fired off another missile salvo; Shinn snarled under his breath, glancing over his shoulder at the Savior as it splashed down helplessly in the water. He dove towards the ocean surface, dodging the Abyss's beam shots and letting the Chaos's missiles slam into the water.

"You damned Alliance bastards!" Shinn screamed, twisting out of the way of another volley from the Abyss. The Abyss charged in, beam lance drawn back; Shinn kicked it in the face before it could swing, but up above the Chaos dropped in on him with beam saber drawn. Shinn deflected its saber stroke with his shield and drew his own saber, swinging back—the Abyss's lance blocked his saber blow, and the three mobile suits were left helplessly pushing against each other.

"He's not budging!" Auel shouted.

"We can't keep this up forever!" Sting shouted. "The base will be sending more mobile suits soon!"

The Impulse jetted away from the Chaos and Abyss and charged again.

"You go after Stella!" Sting shouted. "I'll take him on!"

The Chaos boosted towards the Impulse, brandishing its beam saber; both mobile suits met in a shower of sparks. The Abyss turned and rocketed towards the dock, wielding its beam lance. Shinn narrowed his eyes at the Abyss.

"I won't let you!" he shouted.

The Impulse somersaulted over the Chaos's head, kicking it in the back and knocking it towards the ocean. Shinn fired the Impulse's booster at maximum, drawing his beam saber back. The Abyss turned around in surprise; Shinn screamed, and the Impulse slammed into the Abyss with its shield, knocking it forward and into the water. He raised his saber for a killing blow; the Chaos dove into the fray and blocked Shinn's finishing swing.

"Damn you both!" Shinn screamed. "Why won't you die already?!"

"Auel, are you alright?!" Sting shouted. Auel grunted angrily as the Abyss righted itself. "We'll both take out the combiner and then we'll get Stella!"

"This asshole is _DEAD!_" Auel screamed, charging at the Impulse with his lance drawn. Shinn narrowed his eyes at the Abyss as it stormed towards him.

The Impulse kicked the Chaos's arm aside; Sting grunted in surprise as the Chaos went staggering back. Shinn charged through the opening right into the Abyss's face. Before Auel knew it, the Impulse had rammed him again with its shield, throwing him back again.

The Chaos dropped in with its beam saber raised; Shinn deflected its blow and kicked it in the stomach, sending it back again.

"He just won't fall!" Sting growled as he regained his balance. He glanced anxiously over his shoulder; there were mobile suits launching from the base.

"We're not done yet!" Auel cried; the Abyss charged with a beam cannon volley. Shinn leapt over its shots, dodging the Abyss's finishing lance thrust, and charged at the Abyss's exposed back. Sting launched a volley of missiles at the Impulse, cutting it off; Shinn charged instead at the Chaos, swiping at it with his beam saber as he chased it into the air.

"We're not leaving yet!" Auel shouted, firing a beam cannon volley after the Impulse. "We won't leave until we get Stella!"

Missiles and machinegun fire began to pelt the Chaos and Abyss; inside the Chaos, Sting grunted in surprise, pulling away from the Impulse behind his shield.

"They launched reinforcements," he growled. "Does this mean we..." He shook his head. "We can't...but we have no choice!"

He glanced down at the Abyss as it pulled back behind its shoulder shells.

"Come on, Auel!" he said. "We're going back!"

"_What?!_" Auel exclaimed. "But we didn't—"

"I said come on!" Sting shouted. "We'll just die here, and that won't help Stella at all!"

The Abyss took two more missile hits before it rocketed off towards the horizon. Sting gave the Impulse a final glare and took off after the Abyss.

Inside the Impulse, Shinn watched the Chaos and Abyss retreat, breathing heavily.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation**

Lord Djibril was furious.

He stood in his screening room, clenching his fists furiously, staring at the screen and the face of Neo Roanoke upon it.

"How could you let one of our Extended get captured?!" he shouted. "Especially a Class III like Stella! Do you have any idea how much modification went into her?!"

"Yes, Lord Djibril," Neo said tiredly. "However, the _Minerva_ captured her and it's in Port Said right now."

"Fool!" Djibril roared. "We can't let ZAFT have any information about the Extended! God knows what they'll do with it! And this is even after you let them get to Lodonia, and _get away!_ Incompetent fool!"

"Lord Djibril," Neo began, "I was stopped by factors outside my control—"

"Don't give me that!" Djibril cut him off, with a furious sweep of his hands. "You were amply supplied! You had a next generation mobile suit, you had three ZAFT prototypes, and you had six Special Forces mobile suits! _Ten mobile suits_ against the _Minerva_'s _FIVE!_ Must you make me regret finding you and rehabilitating you, _Phantom Pain?!_"

Neo clenched his teeth angrily.

"Recover Stella at once!" Djibril shouted. "ZAFT already has the lab at which we produced the Extended! They cannot be allowed to have a live Extended as well! Recover her _IMMEDIATELY!_"

"Lord Djibril, Stella is as good as gone!" Neo protested. "She's on a ZAFT ship deep inside an enemy base! We'd have to mount a major campaign to be in any position to recover her!"

Djibril purpled. "You incompetent fool!" he roared. "No Extended is 'as good as gone!' Have you any idea how much work goes into even a Class I Extended?! Stella took fifteen years to fully develop and mature! And even then, she required enough modification and indoctrination to make her a Class III! We can't replace Extended the same way we can replace regular cannon fodder! Extended take time to cultivate! We cannot allow even one to be 'given up!' Now recover her at once!"

Neo gritted his teeth. "Yes sir," he said resignedly, saluting. The screen went dark.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 2nd, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Port Said Naval Base, Egypt, Muslim League**

The infirmary door closed, and Shinn glanced disdainfully over his shoulder. Once again the nurses had kicked him out, though he figured this time they had just gotten sick of him. He knew they wouldn't let him back in, so he sullenly decided to head back to his room.

He paused at a corner as he heard the voices of Captain Gladys and the head doctor.

"What do you mean 'self-destructing'?" Talia asked.

"Based on the information you provided to me, and my own research in treating Stella," the doctor explained, "I have determined that the Extended are reliant on a particular person that is demarcated as a 'psychological benefactor.' They essentially control the Extended subject. And it seems as if the Extended are, ah, 'programmed,' you could say, to automatically shut down their bodily functions in the event of being separated for too long from their benefactor."

"And that's what's happening now?" Talia asked grimly.

"The 'self-destruct' takes time, so as to provide a window of opportunity for the subject's rescue and recovery, but that appears to be the case," the doctor said.

Shinn's eyes widened in horror; he remembered the name Neo.

"Can you reverse the process?" Talia asked.

"It doesn't appear so," the doctor said dourly. "The best we can do is slow the process of organic shutdown, but we can only do this for so long. She will probably die soon; the only way my research shows that we can save her is to give her back to the Alliance and put her back under the auspices of her psychological benefactor."

"That's not an option," Talia said solemnly. "I've received orders from the Chairman about her."

Shinn felt his blood run cold. Even Gilbert was in on this.

"The Chairman wants her kept alive as long as possible, so that he can use her to justify continuing the war effort," Talia said, with a hint of distaste in her voice that went unnoticed by a horrified Shinn. "He is having trouble keeping the Supreme Council behind the war. He's planning an attack on Arzachel Crater to finish it all, but support is waning. He believes the Extended would bolster support for the war."

"Then what are we to do about Stella?" the doctor asked.

Talia was silent a moment. "Does Shinn visit her often?" she asked at last.

"Whenever he has time," the doctor responded. Talia sighed quietly.

"Don't tell him, then," she said. "He's already attached to her; knowing this would only hurt him."

"I understand," the doctor said. "We'll keep her alive for as long as we can."

Shinn heard no more, as he turned and ran down the opposite way, tears stinging his eyes.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Athens Naval Base, Greece, Eurasian Federation**

The deck of the _Spengler_-class carrier _John Paul Jones_ was silent. Sting stood defiantly before Neo, glaring at him. Neo had his arms crossed in frustration.

"If you're going to punish either of us," Sting said challengingly, "then punish me. It was my idea."

Neo glanced to his left; Lee stood impassively by, watching everything.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Neo asked. "You knew you couldn't get her back. Even now, we won't be able to get Stella back, even with this force; we're only doing it because I'm under strict orders to do so. What made you think you could pull it off?"

Sting said nothing. Behind him, Auel glared pugnaciously at Neo.

Neo shook his head angrily. "You should have known," he said, "that this would be a f—"

"_No!_" Lee interjected loudly, drowning out Neo's voice. All eyes turned towards him; Neo uncrossed his arms, turning in surprise on Lee. "You are too quick to use their block words, Colonel," Lee added, staring resolutely at Neo. "Although their actions were unauthorized, they also damaged two of the _Minerva_'s mobile suits badly enough to ensure that we will not face them in this engagement. This makes our job easier."

Neo glowered at Lee. "I would've just erased all their memories of Stella and had done with it if it hadn't meant keeping them in the pods for a week," he snapped. "Why are you siding with them now, Lee?"

Lee straightened up. "I have learned from my mistakes in the past," he said plainly. "I commanded a ship with Extended on board. I treated the Extended like weapons, just as you do. Their conditioning failed, and they rebelled and nearly destroyed my ship. Now here I am, once again commanding a ship with Extended on board. I will not make the mistake of mistreating the ship's mobile suit pilots again."

Neo snarled under his breath and stalked away; Lee glanced at Sting and Auel, staring at him in surprise.

"Your actions _were_ unauthorized, though," he added quietly. "I do not recommend doing it again."

"Why are you sticking up for us?" Sting asked warily. Lee turned to leave.

"You are part of my vessel's crew," he explained quietly. "I will not allow any members of my crew to be abused by anyone, be they subordinates or superiors." He paused, turning around to face them again. "If you like, you can think of me as your father."

"Father?" Auel echoed. Lee gave them a curt salute; Sting blinked in surprise and returned it. Lee glanced at Auel; he saluted as well, and Lee allowed himself a small smile.

"You're not normal soldiers," he said. "So I can't treat you like normal soldiers." He turned again to leave. "We will likely be reaching Port Said soon. Go prepare your mobile suits."

"R-Right," Sting said, watching as Lee walked away.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Port Said, Egypt, Muslim League**

Rey found Shinn on the _Minerva's_ deck, staring angrily at the setting sun. He was giving off waves of anger and frustration and helplessness; Rey steeled himself and approached.

"Shinn," he began.

Shinn glanced back at him and returned his gaze to the sun.

"Stella's going to die," Shinn said quietly. Rey came up beside Shinn, and noticed the streaks of tears on his face, over the three scars Stella had left.

"It is inevitable," Rey said calmly. "Human beings cannot withstand so much modification after they have been born."

"That doesn't make it right," Shinn snarled. "Everyone's just going to let her die."

"What else can be done?" Rey asked. Shinn curled his fists angrily around the railing.

"You didn't hear, then?" Shinn asked, finally glancing back at Rey; Rey eyed Shinn carefully, noticing the hatred burning in his eyes. "The Chairman's already heard that Stella's on the ship."

Rey's face did not betray his surprise, or the warning bell going off in the back of his mind.

"The Chairman wants to use Stella for propaganda," Shinn snarled. "The only way to save her would be to give her back to the Alliance, but they're just going to let her die. She's been forced into the war against her will, she's a human weapon who never wanted to go out and fight, she's so gentle and harmless when she's not scared, but the Chairman would rather let her die so that he can escalate the war than let her live."

"If she went back to the Alliance, she would just end up fighting again," Rey pointed out.

"At least she would get to live!" Shinn shouted, turning to face Rey angrily. "At least she would have a chance! She won't have any chance if she dies!"

He stared angrily at Rey for a moment and turned back towards the sun.

"My family died because I couldn't protect them," Shinn growled, gripping the railing furiously. "Now Stella wants me to protect her. Should I just let her die, Rey?!"

Rey stiffened. "We are soldiers, Shinn," he said. "It is not our place to judge the Chairman's actions."

Shinn turned his blazing eyes on Rey, and for a moment, Rey almost felt his blood chill.

"The Chairman relies on you," Rey continued. "You will be the one to create his new world. You must trust his judgment."

Shinn turned around in fury, staring at Rey with burning eyes. He was trembling with rage, but couldn't bring himself to speak. At last he turned and ran away, into the ship.

Rey watched him go, his face impassive.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The infirmary door opened with its familiar hiss; with her back to the door as she worked, the nurse on duty sighed.

"Back again, Shinn?" she asked. "It's so late."

She turned around; Shinn slammed his arm into her stomach, and she slumped against him into unconsciousness. Shinn set her down against the wall and set to work untangling Stella from the jungle of IV tubes and wires attached to her.

"Shinn..." she murmured. Shinn looked at her face; she was truly dying now. Her body was deteriorating; she was sweating and trembling, her eyes were dim and unfocused.

"It's me, Stella," he said, touching her cheek gently. "I'm getting you out of here. I'll take you back to Neo."

"...Shinn...said he'd...protect...Stella..." she whispered painfully.

"I know, Stella," Shinn said, tears in his eyes. "I'm taking you back to Neo." He felt a burst of pain rising up in his heart, but forced it down with sheer willpower. "It will make you get better. I'll protect you."

Stella said no more, but she was still alive; Shinn finished unhooking her IVs and lifted her up in his arms. She was limp and languid; Shinn looked at her face in pain for a moment. A fire of determination rose up through him; he narrowed his eyes and took off out of the infirmary.

The halls of the _Minerva_ were eerily silent in the middle of the night, as Shinn sprinted towards the hangar. In the midst of a military base belonging to a friendly nation, the _Minerva_'s own security forces were taking a break, as were the exhausted repair crews. Nonetheless, Shinn took the most secretive ways he could think of to the Impulse's hangar. He could not afford to be caught; he would not be stopped.

Shinn raced into the Impulse's hangar, shutting the access hatches behind him. He paused at the side of the Core Splendor's lift, his fingers flying over the catapult's manual launch system. Once he had it configured, he leapt into the Core Splendor's cockpit and started it up, Stella still in his arms, curled up against him.

"Shinn...will protect...Stella..." she murmured.

"That's right," Shinn said gently. "Just hold on a little longer."

The intelligence reports had said that Bogey 1 had docked at Athens; Shinn would take Stella there under a white flag. The Core Splendor shuddered as the lift rose; by now the _Minerva_ crew was beginning to wonder why the Impulse was launching, but it was too late to stop him now. Shinn refused to be stopped; he would deliver Stella back to the Alliance, no matter what the cost.

The lift stopped; the catapult activated; Shinn narrowed his eyes.

"Hang on, Stella," he whispered.

The Core Splendor took off with a roar.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Why is the Impulse launching?!" Arthur cried in a panic, standing on the _Minerva_'s bridge and watching helplessly as the Force Impulse Gundam formed in front of the _Minerva_. "Captain! What's going on?!"

Talia stood at the back of the bridge, her uniform collar still unbuttoned, watching as the Impulse took off. Shinn was leaving; Stella was undoubtedly with him.

_Maybe,_ she thought ruefully, _this is for the best._

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn watched his sensors carefully; there was an object that looked like a carrier up ahead. Down below, he could see the Chaos and Abyss Gundams standing on its deck. He closed his eyes; there was pressure down there, a pressure he had felt before. He mentally crossed his fingers, praying it was Neo. He keyed in the most general frequency he knew, and broadcast it to the carrier.

"Earth Alliance carrier," he said, his voice quavering as he looked at Stella, "I have Stella with me. Clear a path for me."

On Shinn's screen, the face of a masked man in a black Alliance uniform appeared. Shinn blinked at him.

"Neo..." Stella murmured.

Neo stared at Shinn emotionlessly for a moment. "You have Stella," he said. "You are returning her?"

Shinn nodded wordlessly.

"Then what are your terms for giving her back?" Neo asked carefully. Shinn glanced at Stella again.

"Let me leave once I've given her back," Shinn said. Neo stared at him for a moment; Shinn stared back. He could not be unnerved now; he silently prayed that Neo would accept the deal, for Stella's sake.

"Very well," Neo said simply. The screen went dark.

The Impulse landed and crouched on the deck of the Alliance carrier; Shinn opened the hatch, holding Stella, and looked down at the deck. Armed Alliance soldiers were everywhere, staring expectantly at him. Down below was Neo, watching Shinn carefully. Shinn steeled himself and lowered himself on the zip line, holding onto Stella tightly.

Neo approached Shinn slowly. Shinn stared back at him carefully.

"Wait," Shinn said; Neo paused. "I...I want you to promise me...that you'll protect her." Neo began to walk towards Shinn again; he backed away, holding Stella possessively. The soldiers raised their rifles. "Promise me!" Shinn said, glaring at Neo.

Neo paused a moment. "I'll promise you," he said. The soldiers let their rifles fall.

Shinn looked at Stella. "Neo's here," he said. "He'll make you get better."

"...but...Neo...didn't protect...Stella..." she whispered.

Neo took Stella from Shinn's arms gently. He backed away a step and looked down at Shinn inquisitively.

"I never would have expected you to come," he said.

Shinn glanced forlornly at Stella. "Take care of her," he said. He turned to return to the Impulse; he blinked, pausing in surprise, as he was suddenly blocked by two more figures.

Shinn's eyes widened in surprise as he found himself face to face with Sting and Auel.

"Y-You're—!" he began.

"The Impulse's pilot!" Auel exclaimed. "It's you! The guy who was with Stella in Port Said!"

"You're Alliance soldiers!" Shinn said disbelievingly.

Sting interposed himself between Shinn and Auel. "You seem to be Stella's knight in shining armor," he said. "This is the second time you've saved her life." He paused, and extended his hand. "Thank you."

Shinn stared at his hand for a moment and shook it uneasily. Sting wordlessly stepped aside, pulling Auel with him; Auel glared suspiciously at Shinn.

Shinn returned to the Impulse's zip line. He looked over his shoulder at Stella; she stared back at him. Shinn's eyes filled with tears as he jumped back into the Impulse's cockpit and took off.

The Impulse took off into the horizon. Stella watched it go.

"...Shinn..."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	15. Phase 15: Soldier of Sorrow

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 15 - Soldier of Sorrow

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 3rd, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Port Said Naval Base, Egypt, Muslim League**

Armed ZAFT soldiers were there to greet Shinn when the Impulse landed in the _Minerva_'s hangar. Shinn did not bother resisting when they handcuffed him and led him away; he did not care. The crew he passed stared in disbelief at him as the guards led him through the hallways, towards the captain's office.

He passed Rey; Rey watched Shinn walk by impassively, and Shinn didn't spare Rey a glance. Rey was the Chairman's soldier; he would not understand.

The guards ushered him into Talia's office; Talia was there, behind her desk, with Arthur standing behind her. Shinn was led into a chair; the guards took their places at the door.

Talia glanced disdainfully at them. "I won't be needing guards," she said. She looked meaningfully at Shinn. "Shinn returned, after all."

The guards shuffled out. Talia glanced up at Arthur. "Arthur, I'll have to ask you to leave as well."

"But—" he sputtered.

Talia's glare cut him short; he hung his head and disappeared outside. The door closed; Talia looked back at Shinn.

Shinn stared at her like a man convicted to death. He knew he had broken ZAFT military law and committed treason, but he didn't care; at least he had given Stella a chance to live, a chance to find a way out of her bonds as an Extended, a chance to be the kind and gentle girl Shinn had met in Port Said, and not the angry, frightened monster Shinn had fought at Armory 1, and in the Debris Belt, and on Junius 7, and in the Indian Ocean.

Talia sat back. "Why did you do this, Shinn?" she asked at last.

Shinn stared back for a moment. "I didn't want Stella to die," he said simply. Talia looked away in annoyance.

"Of course you didn't," she said. "I won't bother asking how you found out about the Chairman's orders concerning Stella." She sighed again. "You are aware that returning a prisoner of war without authorization is considered treason?" Shinn nodded. "And you are aware of the punishment for treason?" Another nod.

"The Chairman's no better than the Alliance," Shinn snarled, his face beginning to darken with rage. "Everyone in ZAFT was horrified because the Alliance was treating Stella like a tool. That's what the Chairman was going to do too."

Talia closed her eyes. "Yes," she said. "You're right."

Shinn blinked in surprise.

"What the Chairman was going to do was wrong," Talia said. "I understand why you did what you did. I understand why you gave her back to the Alliance, and gave her the chance to survive, instead of letting her die." She sighed again. "But what you did was also against ZAFT military law, and you must be punished still." She paused. "Did you do this to strike at the Chairman?"

Shinn blinked again, taken aback by the question. His confused look prompted Talia to elaborate.

"I will be honest, Shinn," she said, sitting back and looking Shinn in the eyes; he almost seemed to shiver under her gaze. "Something about you has changed, and I believe I know what it is. The Chairman has been stuffing your head full of ideas about Newtypes, has he not?"

Shinn sputtered in surprise. "Wha—how did you know about that?!"

"I'm the captain of this ship," Talia responded coolly, "and I'm obligated to know what goes on aboard it." She paused. "As I was saying, the Chairman has been stuffing your head full of ideas about Newtypes. And since then your skills as a pilot have skyrocketed; all of the sudden you are a hero in the PLANTs. I'm going to connect the dots, then, and say that perhaps you are indeed a Newtype."

Shinn looked away uneasily.

"Unfortunately, I'm not omniscient," Talia continued. "So I'd like an answer." She paused again. "This won't go on any records. I just want you to answer me."

Shinn looked back at her again, suspiciously.

"Do you want to be a Newtype?" Talia asked.

Shinn said nothing; Talia rubbed her temples in frustration, fighting off a mounting headache.

"Shinn," she said, "most people have nothing to do with Newtypes and haven't even heard of them. You won't be able to get help about it from anyone else. No one else will be able to explain things to you." She looked back up at Shinn. "You could go ask the Chairman, but you know he'll just tell you that you're special and in order to stop suffering, you have to follow him and fight his war for him. And you know you'll get the same answer from Rey. Is that what you want?"

Shinn remained silent. Talia sighed again; he was such an enigma. He fought harder than soldiers who had lost their families at Junius 7 during the Valentine War, but he had no reason to fight. There had to be a reason for him to fight; he had to be fighting for _something_.

"I don't want to be a Newtype," Shinn said at last. Talia allowed herself a small smile; progress at last.

"Nobody who knows what a Newtype really is wants to be one," she said. "Was this, then, your way of getting back at the Chairman for telling you about Newtypes and making you aware of it?"

Shinn looked at her with anger in his eyes. "I just didn't want Stella to die," he said. "So I gave her back to the Alliance. I didn't want to make some big philosophical statement. I just wanted her to live."

"They'll just make her fight again," Talia pointed out. "If that's the life she's going to live, then why did you want her to go back?"

Shinn narrowed his eyes at Talia. "If she stayed here, she would die for certain," he answered, an unusual calm in his voice. "If I gave her back, there was a chance she'd live, and get out of the Alliance, and be happy and live the way she wanted to. I'd rather take the chance than let her die and wonder how it all could have been different." His eyes darkened. "I did that once before. I'm not going to do it again."

Talia sighed once again; this was likely the best progress she would ever make with Shinn. She sent for the guards again. "You'll be in the brig until we...work out the details," she said. Shinn stood up; the guards led him out, and once they had left, Talia pounded her fist against the wall in anger.

"Damn you, Gilbert!" she growled. "You're going to destroy this boy!"

She looked away and closed her eyes sadly.

_I don't want to kill him for this...but it may be the only way to save him from leading a life like Rey's..._

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 4th, CE 73 - Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Athens Naval Base, Greece, Eurasian Federation**

"We're going to space next," Sting said to Auel as they both sauntered through the corridors of the _Girty Lue_. "Or so I've heard from the rest of the crew. I guess ZAFT's going to attack the Arzachel Crater base and the brass wants us to be there to stop them."

Auel snorted dismissively. "The brass wants us to do everything," he muttered. "Let's go check up on Stella."

Sting shrugged as Auel veered off towards the maintenance bed room. "She's probably still asleep," he said. "After all—"

They both stopped short as they rounded a corner; they were on the observation deck, overlooking the humming Athens Naval Base. Ian Lee was there, leaning against the rail, his back turned to Sting and Auel. A piece of paper was clenched in his hand.

"That's the captain," Auel said carefully. Sting slowly approached him; Lee turned and glanced over his shoulder at them, almost indifferently, saying nothing.

"Captain," Sting said uneasily, "what are you doing here?"

"And what's the paper for?" Auel asked, pointing. Lee glanced down at it, and then turned around to face the two pilots.

"My family lives in the Atlantic Federation," he began uneasily, "and I haven't heard from them since the Junius 7 colony drop. I'm in the Special Forces, so I'm used to not hearing from them for a long time. But this..." He trailed off, his voice quavering with an unusual amount of emotion, and he held up the paper wordlessly. Sting took it from his hand and began to read, Auel reading over his shoulder.

Before long, both of their eyes had widened.

"Your family..." Auel began.

"...died in the Junius 7 drop?!" Sting finished.

Lee's silence was all the confirmation they needed.

"We should've done something!" Auel exclaimed. "Anything! We could have stopped that thing!"

Lee looked inquisitively at Auel.

"We didn't have any equipment," Sting protested.

"So?" Auel yelled. "We could've shot the thing with the ship or something! Maybe then his family wouldn't have had to die!"

"Auel—" Sting began.

"Goddamn Neo!" Auel shouted, pounding his fist against the railing. "He should've let us do something!"

"What?!" Lee asked, taking Auel by the shoulder and looking at him. "What do you mean?"

"Neo ordered us to go out and gather information," Sting explained. "We got sucked into the fight once we got out there, but we were ordered not to support the demolition work or anything."

Lee turned slowly to look at Sting. "You were ordered, by Neo, not to help them break up Junius 7?" he asked, deathly calm.

Sting nodded, suddenly feeling nervous.

Lee looked down the hallway towards Neo's office, fury burning in his eyes.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Port Said Naval Base, Egypt, Muslim League**

"Shinn."

Shinn looked up at the sound of Rey's voice, staring ruefully at him through the bars of his cell. Rey watched him impassively for a moment.

"What do you want, Rey?" Shinn asked at last, returning his gaze to the wall.

"Why did you return Stella, Shinn?" Rey said. "You will be executed. You committed treason."

"So?" Shinn asked. "The Chairman was going to let her die."

Rey stiffened. "She would have died anyway."

"If she had stayed here she wouldn't have had a chance," Shinn said quietly, glaring at Rey. "I gave her a chance. It's better than nothing."

Rey was silent for a moment. "You will die, then," he said. "You will not be able to create a world where you don't have to suffer."

"I don't need the Chairman to do that!" Shinn snapped. "The Chairman is full of it! Rau was right, Newtypes have to suffer! And I don't want to be one!"

Rey blinked in surprise. "Rau...?"

"Yeah, Rau," Shinn said, getting up to face Rey. "I met him in Carpentaria. He told me all the things about Newtypes that you and the Chairman never told me; how much I have to suffer, how much I have to sacrifice, all for a fairytale world where I _still_ have to suffer!"

Rey said nothing, surprised by Shinn's reaction.

"What do you _think_ it means to be able to perceive everyone else's emotions?" Shinn exclaimed. "You think I can just sit here bearing all this suffering towards some unknown future?! I don't know if this new world you have in mind is even worth fighting for! All I've done is suffer, having to fight enemies whose fear _I_ can feel! I thought _you_ were a Newtype, Rey! Have you forgotten that?!"

Rey glared back at Shinn. "The Chairman had faith in you, Shinn, that you could be the one to build his new world, that you'd be the Newtype that would decide the war and become the protector," he said carefully. "I had faith in you, Shinn, that you would be the one to build the Chairman's new world and do for the world what I cannot. You had a future, Shinn; I do not. But now you are robbing yourself of your future."

"I don't want a future where I have to live with the knowledge that I could have protected people and didn't," Shinn snapped back.

Rey narrowed his eyes at Shinn, taking a careful breath. At last he turned and marched away.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Athens Naval Base, Greece, Eurasian Federation**

The door to Neo Roanoke's office opened; Neo glanced up from his computer terminal, finding Lee striding into the room with a piece of paper clenched in his hand.

"What is it?" Neo asked disinterestedly.

Lee dropped the paper on Neo's desk. He glanced over it.

"Your family died in the Junius 7 drop," he read. "My condolences. Do you want bereavement time?"

"I want an _answer,_" Lee growled. "You ordered the pilots not to support the demolition work. Why?"

Neo looked up calmly at Lee. "Those were my orders. It wasn't our place to support them."

"They were being _torn apart_ by those GINNs!" Lee exclaimed. "We could have helped ZAFT and held them off! The Orb Raiders were there too! We were all trying to stop Junius 7! If we had just joined forces we could've defeated the GINNs quickly enough to break Junius 7 up! Why didn't we?!"

"The reasons are complicated," Neo said. "Those were Lord Djibril's orders."

"Lord Djibril's orders?!" Lee shouted. "To hell with Lord Djibril! Our job is to protect our people!"

Neo slammed his hands on the desk, standing up.

"Junius 7 had to fall!" he yelled back. "The reasons are complicated! Don't question that which you do not understand!" He scowled. "Powerful forces were at work to make sure that thing fell! Djibril _wanted_ that thing to fall! Now we've got a war and he's got an excuse to wipe out the Coordinators!"

"And you were complicit in this?!" Lee shot back. "You just let it happen?!"

"I did what I had to," Neo said, "or else I would have faced dire consequences. Lord Djibril does not take kindly to people bucking his orders." He scowled again. "I did not just 'let it happen.' I was forced to 'let it happen.' Those were our orders. Welcome to the Phantom Pain, Commander."

Lee gave Neo a furious glare and stormed out of the room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Port Said Naval Base, Egypt, Muslim League**

The cell door opened; Shinn glanced up disdainfully at the guards as they motioned for him to stand. They led him out of the brig; Shinn no longer cared where they were taking him, and said nothing, letting the guards cuff his hands and pull him along.

He blinked in surprise as the guards ushered him into Talia's office. Talia was there, behind her desk, staring almost ruefully at the screen of her computer terminal. Arthur stood by her side, making no attempt to hide his astonishment and staring slack-jawed at the screen. She looked up as Shinn entered.

"Shinn," she said, "take a seat."

Shinn sat in the chair she had put him in before; he watched carefully as Talia looked back in disbelief at the screen.

"I have some mail about you from the Chairman," she said, looking at him. "Heine and Shiho sent reports to him about your incident with Stella before I could. Allow me to read you some of it." She glanced back at the screen. "'Due to the accelerating pace of the war and the increasing difficulty of the _Minerva_'s missions, by order of the Supreme Chairman, Shinn Asuka is to be cleared of all treason charges and returned to active duty immediately.'"

Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief. "He pardoned me?!"

"He pardoned you," Talia said, looking back at him sternly. "Not just pardoned you, he wiped your slate clean."

"Wha—why?!" Shinn exclaimed.

Talia scowled at the screen. "Because the Chairman favors you," she said. "Nonetheless, I am bound by orders to free you and clear you of all charges." She motioned to the guards; one of them hesitantly came forward and unlocked Shinn's handcuffs. "As per my instructions, you are to return to your usual duties at once."

Shinn stared at his freed hands in disbelief, and then looked back up at Talia, utterly at a loss. "But—"

"Those are my orders," Talia cut him off. "Return to your quarters."

Shinn stared at Talia for a moment, before he sullenly saluted and left the room.

"But why would the Chairman pardon him?" Arthur sputtered helplessly. "He broke the law and he's not being punished?"

Talia sat back, staring thoughtfully at the screen, ignoring Arthur.

"Captain...?" he asked meekly.

Talia wasn't listening.

_If death isn't an option, and neither is becoming what Gilbert wants him to be, then there's only one choice Shinn has left..._

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 5th, CE 73 - Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Athens Naval Base, Greece, Eurasian Federation**

Eurasian Federation mechanics were hurriedly attaching a massive booster to the stern of the _Girty Lue_. The ship had been ordered to space posthaste; ideally, the monstrosity they were strapping onto the back of the ship would help them get there.

The cacophony of the work could be heard deep inside the ship, in the briefing room, where Neo was standing, while Stella sat in front of him, staring blankly at the dark screen.

"Don't pay any mind to the noises," Neo said. "It's just the workers working on the ship."

"...okay..." Stella said quietly.

Neo glanced at the screen and pressed a few buttons; an array of blueprints appeared on the screen. Stella blinked at them indifferently.

"This is a new unit currently under construction by the Atlantic Federation special forces," Neo explained. "GFAS-X1 Destroy. It's three times the size of a normal mobile suit and designed to take out multiple mobile suits squadrons and battleships. It requires a pilot with expanded piloting and processing abilities to maximize its potential. You have been chosen to pilot the first unit."

"...Stella...the pilot...?" Stella asked, blankly staring at the screen. "But...it's scary..."

"You have to," Neo said, "or a scary thing will get you."

Stella looked at Neo slowly. "But...but Neo didn't protect Stella..." she murmured.

Neo paused, looking confusedly at her. "What do you mean?" he said, forcing himself to be gentle. "Of course I will."

"...but Neo didn't," Stella said. "Shinn did..."

Warning bells went on off in the back of Neo's mind, as the possibility presented itself that Stella was no longer dependent on him—that Stella was no longer under his control. He willed the horrible thoughts away.

"You have to pilot the Destroy," he said, gentle and firm at the same time. "I want you to."

Stella looked indifferently at Neo. He sighed, resolving to stick her in the maintenance pod and erase her memory after the battle at Arzachel.

"But...it's scary," Stella protested quietly. "Stella doesn't wanna..."

"You have no choice, Stella," Neo said, frustration mounting. "Otherwise something scary will get you, and Sting and Auel, and me too."

Stella just stared at the blueprints on the screen. Neo groaned in frustration, smacking his helmeted forehead, and stalked out of the room.

Stella stared at the blueprints.

"...Shinn...will protect Stella," she said.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, approaching the ZAFT 1st Combined Fleet**

The _Minerva_ streaked across space, discarding its booster as it broke through the Earth's atmosphere, and angled towards the Moon. Already, a tiny cluster of lights indicated the position of ZAFT's 1st Combined Fleet, the fleet that the _Minerva_ was to join in its attack on the Atlantic Federation's Arzachel Crater base on the Moon. The _Minerva_ would make it in time for the attack, provided they didn't encounter anyone along the way.

As she glided down the corridors on the pull-bar, Lunamaria looked around and realized how accustomed she had been to gravity. Lack of gravity was disorienting, and created numerous mishaps with her skirt. Deciding not to dwell on the day's battery of embarrassments, she turned towards the hangar, the last possible place where Shinn could be.

He was in the Impulse's hangar, in the Core Splendor's cockpit, working furiously. He had a scowl on his face, twisting the three scars that Extended girl, Stella, had left there. The noises of his work filled the air. Luna approached him hesitantly, still unaccustomed to seeing him after the incident the other day.

Shinn glanced at her as he worked. "Do you want something?" he asked, returning to his work. Luna looked aside uneasily.

"I was just wondering how you were doing," she said awkwardly.

Shinn continued working without speaking for a moment. "Shouldn't you be worrying about your own mobile suit?"

"I took care of the tune-ups this morning," she said, "before the ship went into space." She looked around uncomfortably, and pulled herself closer to the Core Splendor's cockpit, taking hold of the edge of the fuselage. "Shinn..."

Shinn kept working, ignoring her. Luna blinked in surprise; there was anger in his eyes, but it was marked by a strange isolation, like he was totally separate entity from everyone else on the ship. He wore ZAFT's uniform, he had their genes, he used their weapons, but he was not a ZAFT soldier. And now, sitting in the cockpit of one of ZAFT's newest and most advanced military weapons, he looked more isolated than ever.

Luna shook her head. "Shinn," she said, "why did you do it?"

Shinn stopped his work and looked at her. "Why do I have to explain it to everyone?" he asked. "Stella would have died if I hadn't taken her back."

"I know," Luna said, "but..." She looked away. "You were protecting her...weren't you?"

Shinn looked back at the Core Splendor's cockpit panel. "Yeah," he said, "I was."

Luna looked back at Shinn. "But was she more important than us?" she asked suddenly. "Would you rather fight to protect her than us?"

Shinn glanced back at Luna. "Don't say that," he said.

"But who's more important, Shinn?" she continued. She paused, as a new thought occurred to her. "Would you protect her on the battlefield? Would you fight us to keep her safe?"

Shinn looked back down at his instruments. "I gave her back to give her a chance to live," he said. "Whatever happens next is what happens next, but at least she has a chance. And I'm going to take that chance."

Luna looked sullenly at the hangar floor. "Would you kill us to protect her?" she asked quietly.

Shinn was silent a moment. "No," he said. Luna looked up at him in surprise. "I don't need to kill you or Rey or Shiho to keep her safe."

"...what about Heine?" Luna asked uneasily. Shinn scowled.

"Heine has it coming anyways," Shinn snarled. "Psychopathic bastard. He's just the Chairman's lapdog anyways."

Luna looked over awkwardly at Shinn. "You aren't going to betray us again, are you?" she asked quietly.

Shinn looked at her; Luna felt a chill run through her body, staring into Shinn's cold, unforgiving eyes.

"Don't make me promise, Luna," he said quietly.

Luna sighed sadly and turned to leave; she turned as she felt something touch her hand, and she blinked in surprise as she found Shinn holding her hand, looking at her with as much gentleness as she could ever remember him conveying.

"I'll never hurt you," Shinn said solemnly, "no matter where I go. I'll promise you that much."

"Shinn..." she murmured. Shinn offered her a sad smile.

"You're my friend, Luna," he said. "I'm not going to drag you into my life's problems too."

His smile disappeared and he returned to work on the Core Splendor; Luna drifted away, watching him in amazement.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 6th, CE 73 - Office of the Supreme Chairman of the PLANTs, PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

"He's a traitor!" the voice of Heine Westenfluss roared through the speakers of the videophone. "It's an outrage that he should still be alive!"

"Traitor he may be," Shiho Hahnenfuss shot back scornfully, "but we at least need him to help us at Arzachel! After that we can deal with disciplining him!"

"Shoot that traitor _NOW!_" Heine shouted.

Gilbert sat back, listening disinterestedly as Heine and Shiho argued through his videophone. He knew pardoning Shinn was an action the PLANTs could never know about; nothing could be allowed to spoil Shinn's image as the new Athrun Zala, the new boy hero of the Coordinators. Obviously it was already generating controversy on the _Minerva_, but they would have to put the differences aside. There was too much resting on the outcome of the battle at Arzachel for the _Minerva_ crew to be squabbling now.

"I pardoned Shinn because the _Minerva_ needs talented pilots," he said carefully, interrupting Heine and Shiho's shouting match. "Shinn's breaches of military law are indeed grievous, but our need for skilled and experienced pilots right now is more grievous. Shinn cost us important intelligence, but he is still an important asset."

"He's a traitor, Chairman!" Heine protested. "He undermined our intelligence by giving back that prisoner! God knows what else he gave to the Naturals!"

"Shinn only cared about giving back Stella to save her life!" Shiho exclaimed. "He would have no reason to leak other intelligence to them! He just wanted Stella to live!"

"Enough!" Gilbert interrupted, glowering at them both. "Both of you will return to duty and fight at Arzachel tomorrow. After the battle, we will deal with disciplining Shinn for his actions. Dismissed." Without bothering to receive their salutes, he cut the transmission and sat back in his chair, a foul mood festering within him.

_Rey...where did you go wrong?_

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 7th, CE 73 - Near Arzachel Crater Lunar Base, the Moon**

Inside the cockpit of the Force Impulse, Shinn looked around indifferently at the armada of ZAFT mobile suits steadily driving towards the Atlantic Federation's Arzachel Crater base. The majority were older models; at the head of the attack force, however, were squadrons of ZAFT's gleaming new ZAKU line. Behind them cruised a fleet of over a hundred ZAFT warships, led by the _Minerva_ and a massive carrier ship called the _Gondwana_. Ahead of the ZAFT forces was the Arzachel base, protected by an enormous fleet and a swarm of Alliance mobile suits.

There was the faint pressure of Stella Loussier deep within the thousands of people in front of Shinn. He narrowed his eyes and forced his fear away with sheer willpower; whatever happened next, he would have to give himself over to fate. There would be no other choice.

"All ZAFT forces," the imposing voice of the _Gondwana_'s commander rumbled, "Operation _Anvil_ will commence now. All forces are ordered to attack the enemy base and go through their defenses. You have your homeland to your backs and your enemy in front of you; the battle is in your hands now."

The mobile suits began to boost towards the enemy; Shinn looked up ahead. Stella was waiting there for him; his destiny was waiting there for him.

Shinn steeled himself and fired the Impulse's booster.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	16. Phase 16: To Walk a New Path

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 16 - To Walk a New Path

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 7th, CE 73 - Arzachel Crater Lunar Base, the Moon**

A chain of explosions tore across space; thousands of projectiles and beam shots filled the sky. On the bridge of the _Minerva_, Talia watched carefully as an Alliance battleship, spewing smoke, listed towards the _Minerva_.

"Tristans," Arthur shouted, "fire!"

Four thick bolts of beam fire lanced out from the _Minerva_ and speared the dying Alliance battleship; a burst of fire rose up on the other side of the listing ship, and a moment later, the enemy vessel was broken in two by a thunderous explosion.

"Gamma Squadron reports that it has breached the enemy's first line," Meyrin said uneasily, "and it is attacking the base defenses."

"We're making progress already!" Arthur said excitedly. "Captain—"

"Charge the Tannhäuser," Talia cut him off. "The battle is far from over!"

She sat back, watching the battlefield tensely, and wondering what Shinn was thinking right now.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn screamed as the Impulse charged; he ducked beneath a flurry of beam shots and opened fire as the Alliance's Dagger Ls came charging towards him. One of the Daggers passed over his head; Shinn wheeled around to shoot it down, and then turned to spear another as it came in to attack with its beam saber.

"Whatever happens doesn't matter now," Shinn growled. "I'll just throw the dice and let fate take over!"

The Impulse drew a beam saber and charged; a Doppelhorn Dagger opened fire with its cannons, but Shinn plowed effortlessly through the blasts and sliced the Doppelhorn Striker in two. The Dagger drew its beam carbine and jetted backwards.

"No you don't!" Shinn shouted, wheeling around and perforating the Dagger's carbine with a burst of CIWS fire. The Dagger switched to its own beam saber, abandoning its carbine, and charged towards Shinn.

The two mobile suits met with a crash; Shinn thrust his shield upward, sending the Dagger's arm skyward, and sawed the Dagger's arm off at the elbow; a moment later he finished the Dagger with a killing stab to the torso, and took off, redrawing his beam rifle.

Another Dagger turned to open fire at him; Shinn shot it down effortlessly as he dodged beam shots from two more Daggers. He ducked beneath their shots as well and shot them both down as they tried to dodge.

"Stop putting up a fight!" Shinn shouted. "Just go!"

Yet another Dagger swept in with a bazooka; Shinn swiveled around and shot the bazooka out of its hands, and speared it on a second shot as it tried to draw its beam carbine. The Impulse turned to face the Arzachel base; nearby, a Gunner ZAKU Warrior put a fatal shot through the hull of a modified _Drake_-class cruiser. Shinn dipped below the explosion and headed for the Moon, as beam shots and missiles flashed around him.

Up ahead, he saw the familiar blue hull of Bogey 1; it was firing wildly at anything bearing the ZAFT insignia, and was forcing back a squadron of GuAIZ Rs. Down below, more ZAFT mobile suits were advancing steadily towards the base itself. Shinn narrowed his eyes and boosted into the fray.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**The Pentagon, Washington DC, Atlantic Federation**

The Primary Situation Room was a cavernous room filled with computer terminals and screens, overlooked by one large platform at the back of the room, with a conference table and another set of computer terminals.

Lord Djibril stood near the edge of the platform, watching the main screens as they displayed live video feeds from the battle at Arzachel. To the side, President Copland was speaking in hushed voices with an Earth Alliance officer. He gave the officer a curt order and came up to Djibril's side.

"The outcome of the battle is in doubt already, Djibril," he said grimly.

Djibril cast Copland a sidelong glance and smirked. "Let's not be too quick to doubt, Mr. President," he said. "We have yet to deploy the Windams. I guarantee you will enjoy _that_."

Copland glared at Djibril. "I didn't start this war for fun, Djibril," he said pointedly. "I started it to prevent the Coordinators from ever threatening us again."

"We have 167 Windams produced and manned in the Arzachel base as of this morning," Djibril responded coolly. "ZAFT has no idea that we have that many. They are attacking a foe whose true strength they are ignorant of."

"We did the same," Copland shot back. "None of us saw their Neutron Stampeder coming."

Djibril glared at the screen, his face twisting in disgust. "This battle will be different," he said. "Just watch. This time we will be the victors."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Arzachel Crater Lunar Base, the Moon**

The Savior Gundam flashed through the sky in mobile armor mode; inside the cockpit, Shiho cast a quick glance across the battlefield, watching the ZAFT forces advance. A Dagger L came diving towards her, beam rifle blazing; she slammed on the brakes and wiped it out with a plasma cannon volley, and took off towards the lunar surface.

Up ahead, Rey's white ZAKU Phantom dove through a trio of beam shots, deflecting them all with its shield, and shot down the offending two Dagger Ls with its beam rifle. The ZAKU fell into formation next to the Savior.

"Commander," Rey's impassive-as-always voice said stoically, as his emotionless face appeared on Shiho's screen. "I will attack Bogey 1. Do I have permission to take Lunamaria with me?"

Shiho blinked in surprise; what did he need Luna for? "Permission granted," she said nevertheless. Rey saluted quickly; the screen went dark, and the ZAKU Phantom peeled off into the fray. Far up ahead, Shiho could see Luna's ZAKU blow away a pair of Dagger Ls with its beam cannon. Her ZAKU drifted towards Rey's and a moment later, both ZAKUs took off towards the distant blue form of Bogey 1.

Shiho dodged a wave of beam fire and glanced to her right; the closest ship was an upgraded _Agamemnon_-class carrier. Steeling her nerves, she took off towards it.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Inside the cockpit of his ZAKU Phantom, Rey scowled angrily, scanning the battlefield for the Gaia Gundam.

_You must be hiding somewhere,_ he said. _I will take you down._

"Rey," Luna began uneasily, "Bogey 1's that way, why are we—"

"You and I will destroy the Gaia," Rey said shortly. "For Shinn's sake."

"The Gaia?!" Luna echoed. "But isn't the pilot of that thing—"

"Stella," Rey finished hatefully. "We will rid Shinn of this troublesome burden on his conscience."

"Rid him of Stella?!" Luna exclaimed. "But that's just going to make him angrier!"

"It is for the best," Rey said. "You distract it; I will move in and finish it off at close range." He ended the transmission before Luna could protest, and to the right, he caught sight of a thin black shape.

_The Gaia...!_

The ZAKU banked towards the Gaia, on the dusty surface of the moon. Around them, the ZAFT mobile suits were landing, trading fire with the Alliance Daggers and the base defenses. Rey scowled at the Gaia as it shot down a GINN.

"You will lead Shinn astray," he snarled. "You will twist him and turn him against us...you cannot be allowed to exist!"

Rey opened fire; the Gaia jumped aside and fired back. Luna's ZAKU Warrior returned fire with its beam cannon; the Gaia dove out of harm's way as the beam blast seared across the lunar ground.

"You will not turn Shinn against us," Rey growled, firing a storm of missiles at the Gaia. The Gaia shot them down with a CIWS burst; Rey fired his beam rifle through the smoke, slamming his shots against the Gaia's shield. He drew a beam tomahawk in his left hand and charged. "I will rid the world of you today!"

Rey slammed his tomahawk against the Gaia's shield, forcing it back. Luna leveled off her beam cannon and fired; the Gaia threw itself backwards to dodge the shot, but Rey followed up Luna's blast with a beam rifle shot of his own, and the Gaia barely ducked beneath it. Inside the Gaia's cockpit, Stella stared in disbelief at the two ZAKUs as they teamed up against her.

Luna fired her beam cannon a second time; Stella skirted to the side, but Rey was there to shower her with missiles and beam shots again. The Gaia pulled back behind its shield, but Luna forced it back on the defensive with another beam cannon blast. The Gaia leapt into the air, but Rey slammed into it with his ZAKU's left-hand shield, forcing it backwards. He followed it up with a roundhouse kick to the face, sending the Gaia sprawling into the dust. Landing triumphantly in front of the Gaia, Rey raised his beam rifle for a killing shot. Stella's eyes went wide in horror; Rey scowled and pulled the trigger—

His shot slammed against a shield; Rey's eyes widened in disbelief as another mobile suit shoulder-rammed him in the chest, sending the ZAKU staggering back. Luna landed nearby, staring in shock.

A furious flash from the eyes of the Impulse Gundam illuminated the sky.

Inside, Shinn saw a seed explode before his eyes; he drew his beam saber and charged, and as Rey's ZAKU struggled back to its feet, he kicked the beam rifle out of the ZAKU's hands. Rey reflexively fired the ZAKU's Blaze Wizard boosters to skim along the lunar surface and put himself back on his feet, staring incredulously at the Impulse.

"Shinn!" Luna exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"

Shinn glared at Luna. "I told you," he said, "I would protect Stella no matter what."

Rey's face contorted in fury; he raised the ZAKU's beam tomahawk and charged. The ZAKU and the Impulse slammed together in a shower of sparks.

"Shinn!" Rey shouted. "Why are you doing this?! Will you betray us?! The new world?! The Chairman?! _Me?!_"

"Shut up, Rey!" Shinn shouted back; the Impulse fired its thrusters and slammed the ZAKU in the stomach with its knee, sending its tomahawk clattering away. "I'm not going to take punches for the Chairman or you anymore! I won't let you do it at Stella's expense!"

"Shinn—!" Rey began.

He never got to finish; the Impulse slashed the ZAKU's right arm off at the shoulder and its right leg at the knee. The crippled ZAKU staggered back, spewing smoke; Shinn screamed in rage and, in a second beam saber stroke, wiped out the Blaze Wizard and lopped off its left-hand shield. The ZAKU collapsed backwards into the dust; Shinn pointed his beam saber defiantly down at it.

Rey stared in disbelief at the Impulse, through the smoke pouring from his own mobile suit. "Shinn!" he shouted. "You were supposed to build the Chairman's new world! Why are you letting that Extended lead you astray?!"

"I don't want to be in a world where I have to keep suffering!" Shinn shouted back. "Tell the Chairman that! Tell the Chairman that I don't want to be a Newtype! Tell him that he and his new world and his Newtypes can all _go to hell!_"

"Shinn, don't be a fool!" Rey screamed. "Stop this—"

Shinn's eyes flashed; he slashed open the ZAKU's cockpit hatch and glowered at Rey as he stared in shock at the Impulse.

"Don't make me kill you, Rey!" Shinn yelled. "I will if you make me!"

Rey snarled in rage and seized his fallen beam rifle with his ZAKU's remaining left hand and tried to swing it around to fire at the Gaia, as it struggled to its feet. The Impulse's beam saber swept down to slice the ZAKU's left arm off at the elbow and stabbed through the ZAKU's head. What was left of the ZAKU fell backwards into the dust and remained motionless.

Shinn glared up at Luna's ZAKU as she stared in disbelief at the scene. "Stay out of my way," he growled, "or I'll do the same to you."

The Impulse deactivated its beam saber and stomped away. Luna watched it go helplessly. Rey wearily climbed out of his ZAKU's cockpit and looked up at the battlefield; high above, the _Minerva_ was fighting another Alliance warship.

"Lunamaria," he said into his helmet radio, looking over at her ZAKU, "inform the _Minerva_ what has happened." He scowled at the Impulse as it stalked away.

_Shinn..._

——————————————————————————————————————————

The hangar doors buckled inwards and came down with a crash, and a Blaze ZAKU Phantom kicked its way into one of the hangars of the Arzachel base. Inside, the pilot smirked and glanced back at his ZAKU squad, as the rest of the mobile suits picked their way into the hangar.

"Inform the _Gondwana_ that we've entered the base," the commander said. "All units, follow me!"

The ZAKU Phantom raised its beam rifle and fired as a Dagger L activated; the Dagger exploded, and the commander smiled as the mechanics and pilots fled and the ZAKUs destroyed the unmanned, silent Daggers in the hangar.

"This is easier than infanticide," the commander laughed. "Stupid Naturals can never put up a fight! All units—"

A pair of heavy doors in the back of the hangar slid open; a flash of light came out from the depths of the darkened inner hangar. The commander paused inquisitively; a beam rifle blast blew off his ZAKU's right arm. Staring in disbelief, the commander watched as a squad of sleek white mobile suits marched out of the darkness, opening fire on the ZAKUs and wiping them out.

"W-What the hell are these?!" the commander exclaimed in disbelief. The leading mobile suit's eyes flashed underneath a thin visor; it raised its beam rifle and drilled a killing shot through the ZAKU Phantom's cockpit.

As the smoke parted, the squad of Windams marched out of the ruined hangar and towards the battlefield.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Stella stared in confusion as the Impulse helped the Gaia back to its feet.

"Shinn..." she murmured. On her screen, Shinn smiled gently at her.

"I promised you I'd protect you," he said. Stella blinked at him.

"But...they were on Shinn's side," she said confusedly. "...weren't they?"

"They were going to hurt you," Shinn said. "I wouldn't let them. If they come back, I'll stop them again. I'll fight them as many times as I have to until they stop trying to hurt you."

Nearby, a hangar exploded outward; Shinn moved in front of the Gaia and protected it with the Impulse's shield, and watched carefully as a team of damaged ZAFT ZAKUs was torn apart by beam fire. A squad of sleek white Windams marched out, finished off the ZAKUs with another volley of beam fire, and took off into the battle.

"We should get going," Shinn said, glancing back at the Gaia. "Well, I should, anyways. ZAFT will send more mobile suits after me. I don't want to put you in danger."

The Impulse turned away.

"Stella wants to go with Shinn," Stella said suddenly. Shinn blinked in surprise and turned to look back at her.

"But what about Neo?" he asked. Stella looked at Shinn with determination in her eyes.

"Stella wants to go with Shinn," she repeated firmly. Shinn looked at her helplessly.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Neo—"

"Stella wants go to with Shinn," she said a third time, looking annoyed. Shinn sighed in defeat.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," he said. "Are you sure you'll be okay with me?" Stella nodded, and Shinn looked wearily at the battlefield. "Well, the first thing we should do is get out of here," he went on. "The battle is starting to spread."

Stella watched Shinn blankly as he looked around the battlefield. A Dagger came streaking towards them, beam carbine raised; Shinn turned to face it, but Stella shot it down before he could open fire. Shinn looked back at her in surprise; she looked back blankly.

"Stella—" he began.

"Stella doesn't wanna be alone," she said quietly. Shinn smiled at her.

"Don't worry," he said. "Just stay close to me. I'll get you out of here."

The Impulse looked up into the battle; Shinn narrowed his eyes at the tiny glints of light far in the distance; they were the colonies of Lagrange Point 2.

He glanced back at the Gaia and clenched his fists around the controls.

"We'll go to L2," he said. "The mobile suits can make it." He smiled at Stella in spite of himself. "Come on."

The Impulse and the Gaia took off together.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_**

"He _what?!_"

Arthur's words echoed throughout the _Minerva_'s bridge; all eyes were fixed on the _Minerva_'s screens, as Rey's dour face stared them all down.

"That is correct," Rey answered grimly. "Shinn protected the Gaia, crippled my ZAKU, and threatened Lunamaria before he retreated. Lunamaria is bringing me back to the _Minerva_ as we speak."

"B-But, Shinn turned against us?" Meyrin murmured helplessly. "He betrayed us?"

"Are you sure, Rey?" Talia asked.

"Yes, captain," Rey answered without hesitation. "The Impulse left the battlefield with the Gaia."

The bridge was silent; a dull rumbling shook the bridge as something exploded nearby.

"I suppose we shouldn't be surprised," Talia said quietly. "The Chairman pushed him too hard. Sooner or later he was going to snap."

"Captain," Luna spoke up hesitantly. Talia glanced back up at the screen, as Luna's face appeared in place of Rey's. "I...um...I'm requesting permission to go after Shinn once Rey is back on the _Minerva_."

Talia arched an eyebrow. "What do you intend to do once you find him?" she asked. Luna blinked.

"I want to talk him down," she said. "Or...I want to try."

Talia glanced at Rey pointedly.

"Permission granted," she said authoritatively. She glanced at Rey again; he was impassive. "Do your best to talk Shinn down and convince him to return. If that isn't an option, disable his mobile suit."

"...yes ma'am," Luna said with a reluctant salute.

Talia sat back, glowering at the battlefield.

_This was inevitable, Gilbert,_ she thought grimly. _You will reap what you sowed._

——————————————————————————————————————————

Neo pounded a fist angrily on the armrest of his chair, glowering furiously at the screen, and the blank words, "Signal Denied."

"What the hell do you mean she's cutting off our signal?!" Neo shouted. "Find out what's wrong! Now!"

The bridge crew fearfully set to work, and Neo clenched his trembling fists in rage.

"What the _hell_ happened to break the conditioning?!" he snarled. "Stella was a Class III! This shit shouldn't have happened!"

In the left-hand chair, Lee remained silent, keeping in check a feeling of delight at seeing something fall apart in front of Neo's eyes. Shinn had actually protected Stella; Neo had just said he would. Stella would be safe with Shinn; of that Lee was certain. At least one of Neo's Extended would have a chance to be as safe and happy as Neo had promised them all they would be.

"If Stella can break her dependency and run off on us," Neo snarled, "then God knows what Sting and Auel might be capable of."

"Perhaps you should treat them like soldiers, and not batteries," Lee said gruffly. "Praise Sting once in a while, be the father figure to make up for Auel's lost mother. Since you never protected Stella like you said you would."

Neo swiveled around furiously on Lee. "Don't you _dare_ question me, Lee!" he roared. "You don't have _half_ the burden on your shoulders as I do!"

Neo spun around indignantly, glaring at the screen. Lee watched Neo with a smug feeling of satisfaction.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Beams lanced out towards the Impulse and the Gaia as they charged towards the edge of the battlefield. Up ahead, a _Nazca_-class was turning its guns on the two mobile suits; Shinn scowled at it, deflecting a barrage of machinegun fire with his shield and pulling in front of the Gaia. A squad of ZAFT mobile suits, rising to meet the two renegade Gundams, supported the Nazca's guns.

"Stella," Shinn said quickly, glancing back at the Gaia, "you'll have to help me fight our way out!"

"Okay!" Stella answered enthusiastically. The Gaia took off towards the mobile suits; Shinn forced himself to trust her, and dove down towards the _Nazca_'s hull.

The _Nazca_'s guns blazed; Shinn ducked beneath their shots and charged up to the _Nazca_'s bow, slicing off one of the beam cannons with his beam saber. A GuAIZ R stormed towards him, firing its railguns; Shinn deflected the shots effortlessly with his shield and slashed the GuAIZ R in half as it dropped down with its beam saber. The Gaia swept in behind him to shoot down a GINN as it charged towards Shinn's back, sword raised.

"We're not going to make much progress this way," Shinn grunted, turning his eyes on the _Nazca_. Drawing his beam rifle, he shoved the Gaia aside and dodged a beam blast from one of the _Nazca_'s turrets. The Gaia fired back with its beam rifle and beam cannons, wiping out the turret, and Shinn charged with his beam saber. The _Nazca_'s remaining guns blazed, but Shinn blocked their shots with his shield, and plunged his saber into the _Nazca_'s bridge. The Gaia speared its engines on three beam shots, and both mobile suits pulled away as the _Nazca_'s engines exploded, taking the ship with it.

Shinn watched a fireball consume the ship. "I can't go back now," he murmured. "Come on, Stella. Let's go."

The Impulse and Gaia took off again, towards the edge of the battlefield. A Dagger L rose to stop them; Shinn shot it down with a beam rifle shot to the torso. The Gaia moved up next to the Impulse, and Stella gazed blankly at Shinn.

"Is something wrong, Stella?" Shinn asked awkwardly, glancing at her as the two mobile suits streaked across the battlefield.

"...will Shinn be happy?" she asked quietly. Shinn blinked in surprise.

"If I have the chance to protect you, then yes, I will," he said. Stella was silent a moment.

"...but...aren't they Shinn's friends...?" she went on. Shinn smiled back at her.

"That doesn't matter," he said. "I won't go after them and hurt them, but I won't let them hurt you either."

Stella looked at Shinn for a moment. "...okay."

Shinn looked ahead; another mobile suit was approaching them. He magnified the image, and scowled as the orange face of Heine's GOUF Ignited appeared.

"Don't worry about this guy, Stella," he said, clenching his teeth, his eyes flashing. "I'll take care of him." The Impulse charged ahead, and Shinn scowled at Heine's oncoming GOUF. "I have one more loose end to tie up before I leave," he growled. He raised his beam rifle, taking aim at the GOUF. "Now go to hell!"

The Impulse opened fire with its beam rifle; inside the GOUF's cockpit, Heine scowled in disgust, dodging the Impulse's shots.

"I figured you'd betray us once and for all, Shinn," he snarled back; inside the Impulse, Shinn sneered in disgust at his words. "It's just as well; you betrayed us once, and now I will make you face justice!"

The GOUF swung its right-hand heat rod out towards the Impulse; Shinn jetted to the side and switched to his beam saber. The glowing heat rod swung up again towards him; he rocketed up into the air and dove down towards the GOUF itself. Heine scowled and tried to bring his heat rod back up towards the Impulse.

"Die, you traitor!" he screamed. Shinn screamed back and slashed the heat rod in two with his beam saber. "Dammit!" Heine grunted, retracting what was left of the heat rod and drawing his beam sword. "You damned traitor! Hold still!"

The GOUF and the Impulse crashed together in a shower of sparks; Shinn grunted as the Impulse shook. Heine snarled in frustration as the two mobile suits pushed helplessly against each other.

"Traitor!" Heine shouted again. "You betrayed us, now stop fighting! Your death is just!"

"Don't give me that shit!" Shinn shouted back, surging forward and sending the GOUF reeling back. He charged again, and Heine barely blocked the Impulse's beam saber slash with the GOUF's shield. "I did what was right and I have no regrets!"

"You betrayed us!" Heine roared. "You betrayed us for some convalescent Natural science project!"

The GOUF pulled back and lashed out with its left-hand heat rod; Shinn sneered in disgust and slashed it in half. The two mobile suits paused, glowering at each other.

"I don't care what you think!" Shinn snapped. "I don't need your approval! You were just going to let Stella die! You're no better than the Alliance!"

The GOUF charged; Heine's eyes flashed in fury. "Don't compare me to those Natural swine!" he screamed; the GOUF slammed its beam sword down on the Impulse's saber. The Impulse pushed back, forcing the GOUF away; Heine snarled in fury and fired his beam guns at the Impulse. Shinn deflected the shots with his shield and jetted up with a burst of exhaust over the GOUF's head, to drop down with a beam saber slash that Heine deflected with the blade of his beam sword.

"If you keep fighting here you'll be a traitor forever!" Heine screamed. "Accept your fate and die! The world won't even have to know what a traitor Shinn Asuka was to his country and his people!" The GOUF pushed back against the Impulse and showered it with beam bolts again. "If you get away now, you'll be a traitor everywhere you go! Your face will be on every screen, your name will be cursed, you'll have the mark of a traitor for the rest of your godforsaken life! Drop your weapon and die like a man who knows he was wrong!"

The Impulse's eyes flashed, and Shinn rammed the GOUF in the stomach with the Impulse's knee, sending it staggering back.

"I'm not going to lie down and let you kill me!" Shinn screamed. "I may not have much to live for, but I've still got Stella, and I'll rot in hell before I let you hurt her!" The Impulse swung its saber again; the GOUF deflected it with its beam sword again. The two mobile suits jetted apart, and Heine opened fire again with his beam guns.

"How dare you put a stunted little girl over your people!" Heine shrieked. "I'll send you to rot in hell myself, you insolent bastard!"

The GOUF charged; Shinn narrowed his eyes as it did. Time slowed to a crawl; a white bolt of energy sliced the air in front of him; he saw the GOUF bring its sword down towards him in a powerful downward hack; he screamed in rage as he moved. The Impulse caught the GOUF's sword blow on its shield; with a shout, Shinn thrust the GOUF's sword aside; Heine's eyes widened in disbelief—

The Impulse's beam saber went plunging into the GOUF Ignited's torso.

Heine stared at the sparks and flashing lights in his mobile suit's cockpit; horror swept over him. "I'll see you in hell, Shinn!" he shrieked.

Shinn scowled. "Save a place for me!" he shouted back; with a flick of the wrist, he removed his beam saber and took cover behind his shield as the GOUF exploded.

The explosion sent the Impulse reeling back; Shinn fired the brakes to slow himself down as the fireball faded. He glanced over his shoulder; the Gaia was floating nearby, watching everything impassively. He smiled as Stella's face appeared on his screen.

"Sorry about that, Stella," he said gently. "We can go now."

The Impulse and the Gaia took off again.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"He took out the _Galileo_," Luna read in disbelief, staring at her ZAKU's displays as the information ticked by. "Shinn...he's really turned against us..."

The sounds of battle faded to a dim hum in the back of Luna's mind as she stared at the screen. The reports were coming in that together, the Impulse and Gaia had destroyed the _Nazca_-class destroyer _Galileo_ and over a dozen ZAFT mobile suits. The blood of hundreds of ZAFT soldiers was on Shinn's hands now.

Up ahead, Luna could see the Impulse and Gaia charging out of the battle. Luna narrowed her eyes at the Gaia; Rey had been right. Stella was turning Shinn against them, but Luna had one last chance to stop him.

She leveled off her beam cannon at the Gaia. "I'll take you out," she growled, "and set everything right!"

The ZAKU fired; down below, the alarms inside the Gaia went off, and Stella rolled out of harm's way, looking up at the red ZAKU as it took aim again.

"Luna!" Shinn shouted, wheeling around. "I told you not to get in my way!" He fired his beam rifle up at the ZAKU. "Now go away! Let us go!"

"I can't do that, Shinn!" Luna shouted back; she turned to fire her cannon at the Impulse, aiming for the head. The Impulse jetted downwards, letting the shot sear by over its head, and Shinn glared up at the ZAKU. "I can't let you betray us again! I won't let you!"

The ZAKU drew its tomahawk and hurled it down at the Impulse; a moment later, the Gaia was there to slash the tomahawk in half with its beam saber. Luna glared down at the Gaia and fired her beam cannon again, but again the Impulse and Gaia dodged.

"Stella!" Shinn exclaimed. "I'll handle her—"

The Gaia rocketed up towards Luna's ZAKU despite Shinn's warning.

"I'll protect Shinn!" Stella shouted, glaring up at the ZAKU as it pulled back. She drew the Gaia's beam saber back and swung wildly after the fleeing ZAKU. "You won't take Shinn away!"

The ZAKU swung around; Luna clenched her teeth and fired the beam cannon, but again the Gaia jetted to the side.

"Damn you!" Luna shouted. "First you steal our Gundams, now you steal my friend! What more do you want?!"

The Gaia ducked beneath another blast and slashed the ZAKU's cannon in two; Luna abandoned what was left of the Gunner Wizard as the cannon exploded violently, and pulled back, drawing her beam rifle.

Stella screamed; the Gaia surged up into the ZAKU's face, slashing its right arm off and kicking it in the chest. Luna grunted in pain as she was thrown back into the ZAKU's seat. Stella pulled her saber back for a killing stab, but a moment later, Shinn was there to catch her arm.

"Stella!" he exclaimed. "Let her go! Let's get out of here!"

He glanced towards the battle; the Alliance's new Windam mobile suits were tearing the ZAFT forces to shreds. It would not be long before the Windams turned their wrath upon the two Gundams.

Stella glanced ruefully at the ZAKU, and then looked back at Shinn.

"Shinn will protect Stella?" she asked one last time.

Shinn nodded. "I'll protect you."

Luna watched in disbelief from her crippled ZAKU as the Impulse and the Gaia Gundams took off together into space.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	17. Phase 17: Fallout

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 17 - Fallout

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 8th, CE 73 - Boomtown III, Lagrange Point 2**

In a word, she was a bitch.

Shinn Asuka was almost impressed with the surly distrust he was met with by the motel receptionist. The sagging skin, the thick glasses, the narrowed eyes, and the curled-up, waxy-looking hair made for the very portrait of unfriendliness.

"It's $50 a night, one person," she half-snarled, half-grunted. She cast a distasteful glance at Shinn's companion. "You'd better not be trying any of _that_, either."

Shinn blinked. "What? No, I—"

The woman's glare cut him off.

"Well," he continued, "all I have is PLANT—"

"Won't take it here," she interrupted stoically. "Pay in Atlantic Fed money." She narrowed her eyes. "Dollars, kid. None of that PLANT stuff."

Shinn blinked again. "But the exchange office is closed!" he protested.

"Take it or leave it," she answered sourly.

Shinn glanced over his shoulder uneasily at his companion, who returned his gaze with the usual lifeless stare. He returned his attention to the crabby woman at the desk.

"Look, I've got enough to make $170 or $180 at the exchange rate," he offered. To prove his claim, he produced a sizable wad of PLANT currency, at which the woman looked suspiciously.

"Fine," she said after a moment's thought, plucking the wad from Shinn's hand in its entirety and drawing a sputter of protest from him. There was some clicking and whirring and buzzing from her positively ancient-looking computer, and she tossed a key with a white plastic tag at him. "607, sixth floor."

Shinn backed away and turned around, picking up his suitcase, pausing to cast an irritated glance over his shoulder at the receptionist. "Stella, I got us a room."

Stella Loussier stared back, her blank gaze broken by her slow nod. Shinn offered his hand, and she took it and uneasily let him lead her deeper into the building.

All the while, the sour receptionist regarded them with a scowl, and the moment they'd left, sneered, "Kids," and went back to work.

Once the elevator doors had closed, Shinn set down his suitcase, took Stella's other hand, and looked her in the eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Shinn..." she murmured, blinking and shifting uncomfortably under the gaze of his crimson eyes.

"I mean it," he continued. "If there's a problem, I'm taking you to the hospital, and you're not going to stop me."

"...okay..." she answered quietly.

Shinn studied her face for a moment. "You don't look okay," he said at last. "And you're shaking." Stella looked away awkwardly, and Shinn sighed. "Well, the first thing we need to do is get you some rest."

"...what about Shinn?" she asked, looking back at him. At last Shinn managed to smile.

"I'll be okay," he answered, "but I'm more worried about you." He sighed again, and let go of her hands. "I hope the Impulse and Gaia will be okay where we left them."

There was silence again. Shinn started the elevator.

Stella opened her mouth to speak, and Shinn blinked, arching an eyebrow and casting a quizzical glance at her.

"...why did Shinn save Stella?" she asked at last. "The white one and the red one were on Shinn's side...but...Shinn stopped them."

Shinn smiled and took her hands again. "I promised you I'd protect you," he responded. "Rey and Luna were going to hurt you, and if they had, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself knowing I had let them."

Stella looked away again. "But..."

Shinn pulled her into his arms and stroked her head gently. "Don't worry about it," he said soothingly. "You left the Alliance willingly, I left ZAFT willingly. We just took some of their property with us."

"But Sting and Auel...Sting and Auel will want Stella to come back," Stella went on.

"Let them," Shinn interrupted. "If they come after us, we'll take them on. I won't let them hurt you." The door opened, and Shinn led her out and down the hall.

"...but..." she began, trailing off helplessly.

"Just get some sleep," he told her, as he opened the door to their room.

Shinn and Stella blinked at the peeling paint, a layer of dust, and decaying wood.

Across the room, the table collapsed.

"I paid two hundred credits for _this?!_" Shinn exclaimed. He heaved a sigh. "Well, _try_ to get some sleep…"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Night had fallen on the colony of Boomtown III, and as such, Stella and Shinn were huddled together in a single ratty bed with broken springs, a shredded mattress, and tattered, paper-thin sheets. Stella had managed to fall into a fitful slumber, but Shinn had not yet done so. Instead he stared up at the ceiling, the adrenaline still trickling through him.

He closed his eyes, and he could see it all over again. The Gaia Gundam fought desperately against Lunamaria's red Gunner ZAKU Warrior and Rey's white Blaze ZAKU Phantom. Luna's ZAKU forced the Gaia on the defensive; Rey pounded it into the dust and raised his beam rifle for a triumphant finishing blow—

And then the Force Impulse was there to deflect the beam with its shield, and a moment later, he saw himself cripple Rey's ZAKU.

It had all happened so fast. ZAFT had launched its 1st Combined Fleet to the Moon, to destroy the Earth Alliance's Arzachel Crater lunar base, and at the head of the fleet charged the new ZAFT battleship _Minerva,_ its eagerness for battle contradicted by the dour feelings of the crew. And on the moon waited for them the combined Alliance forces, counting among their numbers Stella's previous mothership, the blue-painted _Girty Lue_.

And then the fleets met, and all hell broke loose. Shinn soon found himself ignoring orders to attack specific targets, as he couldn't find those targets—or they were destroyed before he could reach them. He blindly charged forward into the battle, shooting down whatever came at him; he threw himself to the dubious auspices of fate.

And finally, he had seen Rey and Luna team up to attack the Gaia. And before he knew it, he had Rey's ZAKU Phantom crippled. And then whatever form of order there had previously been to the battle was lost. Everything instead became a blur of memories that ultimately led up to now. He had seen his own Impulse drive its beam saber into the cockpit of Heine Westenfluss's GOUF Ignited; he had seen himself target and destroy the bridges and engines of ZAFT warships; he had seen himself wipe out whole ZAFT mobile suit squadrons as they tried to stop him; he had seen Stella defeat handily defeat Luna...

Shinn let out a quiet sigh and hugged Stella tighter.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, outside Boomtown III**

"Reduce thrust to 20. All hands, ETA is thirty seconds. We'll take it to them hard and fast."

The darkened bridge of the battlecruiser _Kasselheim_ was abuzz with the noises of an impending raid. In the captain's chair sat the grizzled, weathered, muscular form of Mev Typhoon, giving out the orders.

"Mike," he continued, glancing at the helmsman, "bring us in a bit closer. I don't want to make the mobile suits travel far. And keep an eye on the heat scopes. Let me know if anything out of the ordinary shows up." He moved his glance to the weapons officer. "Yun, be ready to fire at anything that looks suspicious." Mev sat back contently. "Send out Zora's GuAIZ and George's CGUE first," he added. "Have Miki and Chris cover them in close, and Gan from afar. I don't want anything to find us too soon."

"Yes sir," answered the communications officer. "George, Ice, you two go out first. Miki, Chris, Gan, cover 'em."

"Gottfried One through Four, start up," Mev ordered. "Load Helldart launchers One through Fourteen. Activate the Igelstellungs and Valiants, on the double."

"Yes sir," Yun acknowledged. "Gottfried One through Four on standby, Helldart launchers One through Fourteen loading up. Igelstellungs and Valiants activated. All weapons on standby."

"Viima," Mev went on, turning to the _Kasselheim_'s executive officer, "is this the place?"

Viima Somara looked out at the port of the colony. "Yes sir," she answered after a moment's observation.

"Good," Mev replied. "Drop the sensor masking. Zora, George, move in. Gan, give 'em a covering shot. All other mobile suits stand by. Gottfried One through Four, aim at the space gate and prepare to fire." He narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses. "Let's have some fun. Full speed ahead, open fire!"

The Gottfried cannons fired and their shots smashed into the port.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Boomtown III**

Shinn and Stella snapped awake at the distant sound of explosions.

"What's that...?" Stella murmured, huddling closer to Shinn. He clambered out of bed, pulling Stella with him, and rushed to the cracked, grime-encrusted window.

There was the sound of explosions...and machineguns...and beam weapons...

"Those are..." he began.

Before he could finish, a blast of fire incinerated a couple of buildings across the street, and threw Shinn and Stella to the floor, ripping off the wall in front of them. And in the new opening the blast had made, the distinctive white armor of a CGUE appeared.

"That's...!" Stella gasped. Shinn clenched his teeth in fury.

"ZAFT is attacking?!" he snarled.

The CGUE turned its monoeye on the room's two inhabitants, and both stopped short, watching tensely. Shinn narrowed his eyes, interposing himself between the ZAFT mobile suit and Stella. This CGUE's head had been modified with a pair of CIWS, and it was carrying a beam rifle taken from a GuAIZ and a heavy laser sword Shinn had seen on the CGUE DEEP Arms. It raised the ignited sword up into view, and its monoeye flashed.

At last, it turned its monoeye forwards and stomped off down the street. Shinn and Stella let out their breath, and Shinn looked at her over his shoulder.

"Get your things," he said. "We're getting out of here."

The run to the abandoned industrial district in which the Impulse and Gaia were hidden was long, and probably going to intersect the path of the attacking mobile suits more than once. Together, they attempted to cross the street, only to be blocked by the CGUE they had just encountered slamming down, deflecting a beam shot from some unknown source with its shield, and firing back with its own beam rifle. There was a thunderous explosion, Shinn threw himself over Stella to protect her, and before both of them knew it, machinegun fire was peppering the street and the CGUE. The white ZAFT mobile suit lurched up into the air and fired its shield Vulcans, and a moment later, a bullet-riddled assault helicopter smashed down into the street and exploded.

"Shinn!" Stella gasped, as he pulled her to her feet. "Shinn's bleeding!"

Shinn looked down at his arm, finding a cut on his shoulder and blood trickling down his arm. "It's no big deal," he said dismissively. "Come on, we need to get out of here!"

He took her hand and was about to lead her through the street when there was another explosion.

"What the hell is going on...?" Shinn murmured, looking around in the colony's artificial sky. A Strike Dagger belonging to the colony's defense force was skewered on a beam shot, and exploded in midair—and a white painted GuAIZ flew by overhead. "Shit...Stella, let's go!"

Shinn and Stella raced across the street as another helicopter was shot down above them and hurtled towards the street. They dove for cover, and the helicopter slammed into the street and exploded.

"Dammit," Shinn growled, "there's still another nine blocks to go..." He looked up, in time to see another Strike Dagger explode. "Come on!"

Shinn and Stella took off down the street again.

They managed to put eight more blocks behind them without stopping, and the dilapidated factory in which the Impulse and Gaia had been hidden was in sight. A Strike Dagger collapsed down into the street in front of the two, and Shinn instinctively grabbed Stella and leapt into a nearby doorway, just in time to hide from the Strike Dagger's explosion. And then there was a crash as a mobile suit came down, and Shinn glanced out from around the corner at the new arrival.

"What the—"

A GINN High Maneuver II towered over the remains of the Strike Dagger.

"Is ZAFT attacking this place or what?!" Shinn exclaimed. In the sky above the GINN HM II, a 105 Dagger fired a beam shot that drilled through another Strike Dagger and a helicopter, wiping out both. "A Dagger too...they must be pirates or something..."

The GINN took off, shooting down another helicopter with its beam carbine, and Shinn and Stella took off running again as the helicopter plowed into the building they had been hiding in. There was another explosion in the sky, and before they knew it, a shower of missiles was plummeting towards them. Shinn leapt in front of Stella, who let out a frightened scream as the missiles came closer—

And suddenly there was another mobile suit there. The imposing form of the 105 Dagger fired its CIWS at the missiles, destroying them in midair.

Shinn seized Stella's hand and pulled her towards the factory.

"Come on!" he yelled. Shinn and Stella rushed into the factory as beam shots smashed into the street they had just been standing in.

In the factory, Stella and Shinn scrambled over fallen debris towards the darkened corner in which their Gundams hid. They disappeared into the Force Impulse and Gaia, and the flash of the mobile suits' eyes filled the smoky remains of the factory. With another flash, the Phase Shift activated, and the Impulse stood.

"Okay," Shinn said, "now let's figure out what's going on."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, outside Boomtown III**

"So, Kika, what're the kids up to in there?" Mev Typhoon asked with unusual casualness. Kika looked down at her displays for a moment.

"Chris, what're you guys doing in there?" she asked into her headset. A disgruntled young man's voice answered, underscored by machinegun chatter and explosions.

"I'm kinda busy right now," he growled. Kika groaned unhappily.

"But Chris, come on, the captain just asked me what you're doing and—"

"Go ask someone else then!" Chris Machonheiler snapped from the cockpit of his 105 Dagger. "I almost got shot down just now!"

"Fine!" Kika huffed, pressing a handful of buttons on her display. "George, what are you guys doing in there?"

There was a bit of static from George Morrison's CGUE before he answered. "We have to go through the colony militia before we can get to the warehousing district," he responded. "Looks like it's on the opposite block too."

"Any sign of those two Gundams?" Mev asked. Another pause.

"No," George responded. "Looks like all we'll get this time is some more supplies." Mev furrowed his brow in irritation.

"Mike, bring us around to the other end of the colony," he ordered. "Yun, keep the weapons ready. I doubt we'll get to the other side for free." The _Kasselheim_ rumbled as the engines angled to carry the ship over the colony.

_Now then,_ Mev thought as he sank back, _let's see if those kids really did come here._

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Boomtown III**

"Where should we go?" Stella asked quietly. The Gaia, if it was possible, seemed sheepish as it hid behind Shinn's Impulse.

"There aren't many places we can go," Shinn answered, as the Impulse peered around a broken edge of the wall at the battlefield. Outside, another Strike Dagger was picked out of the sky by a beam shot from the GuAIZ. "I suppose we could try to get out through the central shaft," he continued, flipping through files in the Impulse's memory, "but we'd have to fly up there and someone would see us..." Stella watched uneasily as Shinn worked intently in the cockpit of the Impulse. "Maybe we could try to get out through the colony wall...but we'd need something to break it open...dammit." He looked up at last. "I don't see any other way. We're gonna have to fight."

Stella nodded slowly, and Shinn sighed. "Just try not to overdo it," he warned. "I don't know when we'll get to rest again."

The two pilots looked out at the battlefield.

"So we'll just shoot at whoever shoots at us," he finished. "Okay?" Stella nodded again, and Shinn smirked. "Good. Let's go."

The remains of the factory exploded outward as the Impulse leapt into the air, the Gaia right behind it.

Across the battlefield, the CGUE's monoeye turned to watch them. It gestured towards them with its shield, and the attacking mobile suits broke off their attack and roared after the two Gundams.

Inside the Impulse, Shinn bit back a curse. "Stella, you break open the shaft. I'll cover you."

The Gaia raced off into the sky, firing its beam rifle and beam cannons at the shaft in the colony sky, and the Impulse darted between the incoming mobile suits and the Gaia, firing its CIWS. Shinn narrowed his eyes at the attackers. _A CGUE, a 105 Dagger, a GINN High Maneuver II, a GuAIZ, and a GINN Assault Type...great..._

The Impulse took aim with its beam rifle.

"I won't let you go any further!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near PLANT airspace, Lagrange Point 5**

The ZAFT 1st Combined Fleet had at first fared well in its attack on the Earth Alliance's Arzachel Crater lunar base. ZAFT mobile suits had managed to force their way relatively far into the base itself, and the Alliance's subpar Dagger Ls had put up poor resistance. Then the Alliance unveiled its new Windams upon the attackers in the depths of the base, beating back the ZAFT forces, launching a stunning counterattack on the ZAFT fleet, and forcing the fleet to withdraw before they lost anymore.

And of course, the most stunning news of all was that the famous Shinn Asuka had betrayed his people.

Chairman Gilbert Dullindal was not a happy man when the reports came in. He had been counting on a ZAFT victory at Arzachel to finally cripple the Earth Alliance. Now the citizens of PLANT were outraged, and the citizens of Earth even more fervent to finish off the Coordinators for good.

However, what disturbed him more was the report of the Impulse's pilot, Shinn Asuka, attacking his comrades and then escaping with the Gaia—which had not too long ago been itself stolen by a ship that was undoubtedly under the command of the Alliance. And to top it off, he'd carved a path out of the battle for himself and Stella, and this path had ended up running through the ZAFT fleet, and in particular through Heine Westenfluss.

And so, as what was left of the ZAFT 1st Combined Fleet staggered back into PLANT airspace, Chairman Dullindal stood on the bridge of the _Minerva_, with several of the pilots and crew who had known Shinn closely. The crew's attention was riveted on one the main screen.

Lunamaria's ZAKU Warrior fired its Gunner Wizard's beam cannon, and the Gaia barely managed to evade—only to be met with a hail of missiles from the Blaze Wizard of Rey's ZAKU Phantom. Rey's ZAKU slammed the Gaia into the lunar surface and landed to finish the Gaia off.

And then the Impulse was there.

Luna looked forlornly at the screen, once again watching her comrade lay waste to Rey's ZAKU. She glanced at Rey, who scowled as the Impulse dismembered his mobile suit. Not far from Rey, Shiho Hahnenfuss crossed her arms, watching impassively—the Savior had been nowhere near the _Minerva_ at the time, and had not been able to assist Rey's ZAKU in time.

"After the Impulse disabled Rey's ZAKU," Talia continued, pressing a button on the console at her side, "Shinn battled and destroyed the _Galileo_ and her mobile suits. He then took out Heine's GOUF Ignited and disabled Lunamaria's ZAKU, before the Impulse and the Gaia escaped the battlefield." She glanced up distastefully at Gilbert. "Your orders, Chairman."

Gilbert stared for a moment at Talia. "The Impulse is an important piece of military hardware," he said at last. "We can't afford to lose it after we've already lost the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss."

"But Chairman!" Luna blurted out. "What about Shinn?"

Gilbert cast his eyes towards her, while Rey sent a withering glare her way. "Shinn will have to face the consequences of his actions." Several of the bridge's crew cast their eyes downward, knowing what that meant. "But for now, I want this ship to focus on retrieving the Impulse. I've sent the _Von Braun_ after them and plan on freeing up another vessel." There were shocked expressions around the bridge. "However," the Chairman continued, "I would feel better knowing that this ship is at the head of the fleet."

Talia gazed up quizzically at Gilbert. "You want me to command a squadron, Chairman?" she asked dubiously. Gilbert nodded, and Talia blinked in surprise.

"This is a fast ship, as are the _Nazca_," Gilbert explained. "I believe you will find the Impulse quickly. And the Impulse left the battlefield with the Gaia—this is a potential opportunity to recapture them both." He cast a furtive glance at Luna. "And we can deal with Shinn when we find him."

"We'll get right on it, Chairman," Talia said hesitantly, saluting.

"Good," Gilbert answered. "I'd expect nothing less."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Boomtown III, Lagrange Point 2**

The GuAIZ fired its extensional arrestors, and Shinn lurched backwards to avoid them—but the moment he did, the CGUE came driving in, its laser sword pulled back for a killing blow. Shinn threw his shield to the defense, and cursed as the Impulse rattled under the blow. And to his left the GuAIZ was aiming with its beam rifle, while the GINN HM II, the GINN Assault, and the 105 Dagger angled for the Gaia. "Dammit!" he shouted, lurching back to avoid the GuAIZ's beam shot. He fired back, and dodged again as the CGUE attacked again with its sword. Shinn boosted up into the air, firing a handful of beam shots at his opponents. The GuAIZ took three shots to its shield and stormed in, firing its beam rifle, and at point-blank range dropped in with a slash from its beam claw. Shinn deflected the blow with the Impulse's shield and dove backwards, fighting for distance and showering his foes with CIWS fire.

"Dammit," he growled again. "Stella! Hurry up with that thing! These guys are good!"

The CGUE attacked again with its laser sword, and Shinn growled in frustration as he took the attack on Impulse's shield. The GuAIZ rained CIWS fire on him as the CGUE stormed in for a second strike. This time the blow sent the Impulse reeling, and Shinn struggled to regain control—and then a scream cut through his cockpit.

"Shinn!"

Shinn snapped his attention behind himself, and his eyes widened as the GINN HM II slammed its sword against the Gaia's shield, knocking it backward— and then the 105 Dagger raised its beam rifle towards the Gaia's torso...

Then Shinn saw the seed.

Shinn took off towards the Dagger, drawing a beam saber. The Dagger turned in surprise—and in an instant, Shinn sliced through the beam rifle, destroying it. The mobile suit lurched back in surprise, drawing a beam saber of its own, and dove down towards the Impulse.

Shinn narrowed his eyes at the approaching mobile suit, boosted over its head, and with one fell swoop, slashed off the mobile suit's left arm. It swung around for another slice, but Shinn deflected the blow with his shield, and in one more move, stabbed the Dagger cleanly through its head. And in one last blow, Impulse delivered a punishing kick to the Dagger's chest, sending it plummeting out of the sky.

"Shinn..." Stella murmured, as the Impulse rose up towards the shaft.

"Break this thing open so we can get out of here!" Shinn shouted, as he returned the beam saber to the Force Silhouette and drew the Impulse's beam rifle, slamming a shot directly against the GINN HM II's shield and sending it staggering back. The GuAIZ and CGUE fired back with their own beam rifles, and the GINN Assault added a beam rifle shot as well, but Shinn deflected the beams with his shield. He fired back, clipping the GINN Assault's shoulder and sending it stumbling out of the sky. The GINN HM II came roaring up in its place, sword drawn, and slammed down against the Impulse's shield with a forceful blow. Shinn scowled at his new opponent, and the faces of the GINNs at Junius 7 flashed through his head. He stabbed back with his own beam saber, slicing forward at the apparition, and the GINN HM II caught the blow on its shield.

The GINN Assault, the CGUE, and the GuAIZ fired up at the Gaia.

"Stella!" Shinn shouted, as he thrust forward and forced the GINN HM II away. "Look out!"

The Gaia lunged to the side just in time as the beam shots smashed against the shaft. A cloud of fire and smoke rose out of it as the entire colony rattled, and the shaft sprouted smoke and steam as it threatened to collapse.

"Let's go!" Shinn shouted. The Impulse and Gaia dove into the new opening and took off. Down below, the GuAIZ, CGUE, GINN HM II, and GINN Assault followed.

Inside the shaft, the Impulse and Gaia slithered among the countless tethers, support struts, and little bits and chunks of metal that seemed to serve more as annoying obstacles than anything relevant to the colony. Shinn kept a close eye on the Gaia as he weaved through the impromptu obstacle course.

"Stella," he called, "how are you feeling?"

Stella gave an affirmative murmur that sounded like "okay," and Shinn opened his mouth to continue speaking.

The chatter of machineguns interrupted him, and he cast an irritated glance behind him, finding the GuAIZ and CGUE rattling away with their CIWS. He growled between clenched teeth. "Stella, go on ahead. I'll keep them busy."

The Impulse flipped around and cut the thrusters, and the surprised GuAIZ and CGUE lunged aside to avoid a volley of beam shots. The GINN HM II took the shots on its shield, but the GINN Assault wasn't so lucky, and with three consecutive shots, Shinn scored a hit and blew off the GINN Assault's right leg, and another shot took the GINN Assault's beam rifle and shield out of the picture as well. At last, Shinn drew a beam saber and charged forward, seeking blood—

And just as suddenly, the GINN HM II was there, its shield extended to deflect the blow. He took the subsequent follow-up sword strike against the Impulse's own shield and lunged forward, forcing the GINN HM II aside as he dove towards the GINN Assault, but his killing slash only managed to cut off the right arm at the elbow. Nevertheless, the GINN Assault pulled back, and Shinn slammed down victoriously on the shaft floor, turning his attention to the GINN HM II. He glanced around, finding the GuAIZ and CGUE nowhere in sight, but before he could do anything about that, the GINN HM II was upon him again, sword upraised. Shinn narrowed his eyes, seeing an opening as his foe charged in.

In one fluid motion, he snapped around and sliced off the GINN HM II's right arm at the shoulder and right leg at the knee. A final kick to the torso sent the wounded mobile suit careening backwards, and with a victorious flourish, he snapped his beam saber into a killing stance.

Then Stella's scream cut through his cockpit again, and then, as quickly as it had started, it ceased. Shinn's eyes widened in horror, and, the fallen GINN HM II forgotten, he lunged up into the shaft, holding his beam saber before him to slice through anything in front of him.

"Stella!" he cried. "_Stella!_"

The Gaia was ahead of him, slumped lifelessly, Phase Shift down, supported by the CGUE. There was something against the small of the Gaia's back, but Shinn couldn't tell what—and before he could go any further, the GuAIZ appeared out of nowhere, halting him with its extensional arrestors, and suddenly there was gas in the cockpit.

Shinn grunted helplessly as he drifted into darkness, and the Impulse slumped to the ground before its foe.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, near Boomtown III**

"Interesting," he said. "Very interesting."

On the bridge of the _Girty Lue_, Neo Roanoke watched amusedly as the silver GuAIZ and CGUE dragged a deactive Force Impulse and Gaia into the hangar of the _Kasselheim_. The _Girty Lue _sat calmly behind its Mirage Colloid shield, and Neo chuckled softly, tapping his arm.

"They're powerful for a pirate gang," Ian Lee remarked stoically.

Neo cast a glance over at the helmsman. "Take us in closer, but not too close. They've got the Gaia and that combining one, so it's safe to assume that they've got Stella too."

"Shall we attack?" Lee asked from the captain's chair. Neo put a hand to his chin in thought.

"No," he said at last. "I'm sure they captured Stella in a state of unconsciousness. She wouldn't let herself be captured. We'll wait until she's back on her feet."

"But we can't just let them get away," Lee added. "We have to do something."

"Of course," Neo agreed. He paused, eyeing the screens. "There's a patrol group nearby. Two _Drake_-class and one _Nelson_-class. All equipped with Dagger Ls. Hail them and tell them to intercept this ship. Tell them we'll be coming up from the rear. Have the mobile suits standing by." He smirked. "Time to see if they really _are_ so tough."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battleship _Kasselheim_, near Boomtown III**

"Well, well," the voice said sardonically. "So Sleeping Beauty awakens."

Stella looked up in a daze, finding a great deal of darkness with a little bit of light. The haze of knockout gas was still clinging stubbornly to her brain, scattering her wits. She blinked at the dim outline of a person in the room with her.

"So," the voice went on, "lessee here...Stella Loussier. Wanted for theft of RGX-03 Gaia, return to Atlantic Federation Space Forces. Bounty of $500,000." There was a pause. "Hmm. You look hotter in person."

Stella blinked at the sound of something hitting something, and the man to whom the voice probably belonged grunted in pain.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Do you have to hit on _everything_ female," snapped an offended-sounding woman's voice, whose owner Stella had not seen anywhere, "or is there some kind of criteria?"

"Oh yeah, sure," the man shot back, "after _you_ were making all those kissy-kiss noises at that Shinn guy—"

Stella gasped sharply, cutting off both speakers.

"Shinn!" she whispered. "Where's Shinn?"

"Wha...?" the man grunted. "Hey, look, you're still a prisoner—"

"Where's Shinn?!" Stella repeated, this time sounding less patient.

"Um, Mike, I think she's getting pissed," the woman interjected nervously. The man shrugged it off.

"Don't worry about it," he answered. "Anyways—" Before he could finish, Stella lunged across the darkened space of the cell, grabbed the man by the neck, and slammed him roughly against the wall, staring into startled eyes.

"_Where is Shinn?!_" she demanded for a third time.

"H-Holy shit!" the man stuttered. "Gan! Get her off me!"

"_WHERE IS SHINN?!_" Stella screamed, twisting her hands around the man's throat and driving from him a loud cough.

The woman attempted to pry Stella loose, but a flailing slash from her nails was all it took to drive the second assailant back. Stella returned her glowering gaze to the man, forcing him back into the wall.

A moment later, the cell door opened, showering Stella in light, and before her eyes could adjust, she'd been thrown to the floor and someone had thrown a pair of handcuffs around her wrists. She struggled in vain against them, but her thrashing ceased as the light was broken by a towering figure.

A mountain of a man stood in the doorway. The woman helped the other man to his feet as he coughed from Stella's death-grip, and two more men with rifles stood behind the tower of muscle that loomed above her.

"Captain!" the woman exclaimed. "What—"

He raised a hand, and she fell silent. He continued to stare down at Stella, and she squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze.

"So," he spoke, his voice less of a voice and more of a rumble. "Stella Loussier."

He regarded her for another moment. At last he turned towards the man and woman who had been talking to her earlier. "Mike, Gan. Come with me."

The two figures left the room quickly and quietly, and the tall man pulled her to her feet and unlocked the handcuffs. He stared down at her for a moment, and Stella felt herself go cold.

At last, he turned and left the cell. He spoke quietly, too quietly for Stella to hear, to one of his underlings, and a moment later, a weak-looking Shinn appeared and was tossed into the cell. The door slammed shut.

Shinn came to a stop in Stella's arms, and he grunted quietly. "Stella?"

"Shinn!" Stella exclaimed, squeezing him in a hug. "Is Shinn alright?!"

Shinn grunted again. "What happened...?" he murmured. Stella, though still refusing to relinquish her hold on him, pulled away enough to look at him.

"...Stella doesn't know," she murmured. "But...why does Shinn look sick?" She touched his face, staring nervously at his flushed cheeks, and touched the three scars beneath his left eye.

"I guess it was that gas," he mumbled. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Stella answered reluctantly. "But...it's scary..." Shinn looked around slowly at his surroundings.

"I guess we're onboard the ship of those pirates we were fighting," he mumbled. He brought a hand to his head and groaned. "Goddammit, how'd we end up like this..." He glanced back up at her. "Don't worry," he added, before she could say anything. "I'll be fine." He sighed and looked at his surroundings again. "I wonder what they want with us."

Stella huddled closer to him. "...scary...!" she whimpered. Shinn rubbed her shoulders affectionately and smiled at her.

"Don't worry," he repeated. "I'll protect you."

_But I wish I knew what I was protecting you from..._

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Junk Guild transport ship _ReHOME_, near Boomtown III**

"So this is the infamous Mad Typhoon Gang."

On the bridge of the _ReHOME_, Lowe Gear whistled, impressed. "That's a helluva ship," he added, leaning forward to squint at the battlecruiser's hull. "Hot damn, are those Gottfrieds? Where'd they get those?" Somewhere nearby, Kisato Yamabuki shivered in fear.

"I hate pirates," she grumbled. "They're scary! Did we _have_ to sell them parts?"

"Of course we did! It's not like we're getting money from anywhere else!" Lowe exclaimed. "Come on, they're not that bad. And if we didn't have pirates we wouldn't be able to make nearly as much dough as we do now!"

"They offered us a lucrative rate," added Liam Garfield, from another chair. Kisato cast annoyed glances at Lowe and Liam. "Also, since our encounter with the Darkheart Team, we have been in need of funds, and must turn to, ah, less than commendable avenues of obtaining them."

"The worst they'll do is pinch you and croon at you," the Professor interjected from the right-hand chair. Kisato glared at her next, and the holographic projection of George Glenn in the left-hand chair gasped in indignation.

"They wouldn't do that to my _number-one fan!_" he exclaimed, leaping to his feet and pointing skyward. Kisato arched her eyebrow at him and sighed.

In his own console, Liam blinked. "It appears they are increasing their list of requests," he spoke up. All eyes turned questioningly towards him. "I suppose some of their units were damaged in some previous engagement. Fortunately, they are also providing an increased offer for payment, so we should not need to negotiate much over that."

Lowe drifted over to read over Liam's shoulder, and whistled again. "Wow, we're gonna be _loaded_ after this one!" he exclaimed. "Two whole Igelstellungs and ammo? What'd they do?"

"Well, we've almost docked!" George announced happily. "Shall I give them a call?"

"No!" Kisato snapped. "You scare everyone you talk to."

George looked downtrodden. Liam sighed and tapped a handful of switches.

"Anyways," Lowe went on, "I think we have—"

A shrill warning alarm bleated through the air, cutting Lowe off. All eyes turned towards the Professor's console, from which the alarm was issuing. The Professor arched her eyebrow and smiled mysteriously.

"Well, well," she began. "An Alliance patrol group. Looks like they came fully loaded with mobile suits, too. Thirty at least."

Kisato squeaked in fright. "T-Thirty mobile suits?!" she exclaimed.

"Where the hell did they come from?!" Lowe demanded, clenching his fists. "Dammit, I'm going out in the Red Frame!"

"Right!" George exclaimed enthusiastically, leaping up and pointing dramatically at the dim specks of the enemies far ahead. "Red Frame will launch and fend off the attackers! We will stay behind here with the pirate ship!"

Lowe rushed out of the bridge, and the Professor looked down at her console.

"So," she said, smirking at the operator on the other end, "we're going to dock and send the parts you requested over. And be sure to give us a tip."

"What?!" the operator shrieked. "Are you nuts?! There's three Alliance ships with thirty mobile suits heading right towards us and you still want to _dock?!_"

The Professor chuckled. "Sure, why not?" she answered. "You guys better be ready."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, near Boomtown III**

The alarms roused Stella and Shinn from their half-slumber, and both were momentarily blinded as their cell door opened. A pair of hands grabbed them by the arms and hauled them out into the light.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Shinn yelled, as he was pushed against a wall. A moment later he found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol held by a woman in a dull green overcoat.

"Quiet," she growled. "You're coming with me to the bridge."

She dragged the two young pilots through the halls, ignoring the surprised stares and questions of passerby, and shoved them roughly through a pair of double doors that led them drifting into the bridge.

"Shinn Asuka and Stella Loussier," Viima said gruffly. "Give them what they want and they'll leave us alone."

"They're more interested in the mobile suits," Mev corrected. "Pilots can be replaced. Gundams can't."

"But that doesn't explain why their force is so small," Mike put in, staring intently at the fast-approaching fleet. "If they were really looking for those things, there'd be more troops."

All eyes turned to the approaching _ReHOME_ as it ponderously swung in to dock.

"I see they're still trying to dock," Mev observed calmly.

"I tried to tell them not to!" Kika protested. "They won't listen! Those stupid junk techs are insane!" Yun let out a shriek of fright.

"You mean those crazy bastards are trying to dock _in the middle of a battle!?_"

"Stop them!" Viima shouted. "Yun, shoot a missile past them or something! We can't do this in the middle of an attack!"

"No," Mev cut in, leaning forward. "Continue as planned. Launch whatever mobile suits are still operational." He glanced over at the _ReHOME_ and watched as the left-hand arm of the ship opened up, and a red-and-white mobile suit with a large flight pack on its back and a large sword on its side came hurtling out.

"But captain," Mike protested, "three of our mobile suits are still being repaired! We can't fight thirty Daggers with two mobile suits! And there's still those three ships to worry about too!"

At last, Mev turned towards Stella and Shinn, who were still being held at gunpoint.

"And as for you two," he went on, ignoring Mike, "we'll see if the Alliance is willing to pay what they said they would."

"That's why you captured us!" Shinn yelled. Mev returned his gaze to the approaching fleet. From the hangar the GuAIZ went flying out.

"$500,000 for Miss Loussier isn't something to pass up," he said. "Be quiet and we won't hurt you."

Shinn interposed himself between Stella and Mev. "No!" he shouted. "You're not turning her in!"

Shinn was interrupted when a pistol butt smacked him across the face. He staggered to the side, and Stella let out a squeak of fright. She grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him back to his feet, and he glared at Viima.

"I don't care if you hit _me_," he snarled, glowering at Viima. "You can do your worst to _me_. But if you hurt _her_, I'll—" He caught himself and glanced at Stella.

She raised her pistol again, but Mev caught her arm.

"No, Viima," he said quietly. With that, he released Viima's arm and turned to face Shinn. "You'll what?" he asked rhetorically.

Shinn glowered at him, not breaking his gaze. Mev regarded him for a long moment—outside, the CGUE launched.

"I wonder, Mr. Asuka," Mev went on, carefully eyeing the angered young Coordinator, "what will you do for her? Are you willing to fight for her?"

He turned away, and Shinn said nothing.

"I'll cut you a deal," he went on. "It is evident that the Alliance is picking a fight. So, you fight for us, bolster our forces, and we'll let you two go." He turned his gaze towards Shinn. "Does that appeal to you, Mr. Asuka?"

Shinn glowered death at Mev. "You're going to hold Stella hostage," he concluded furiously, "and make me fight to save your asses."

"It's better than your other option," Mev pointed out sardonically. Shinn glowered at Mev for another moment. "I suggest you hurry up and choose," Mev added. "If you don't give me an answer soon, I'll answer for you, and I doubt you'll like the one _I_ choose."

Shinn and Mev remained locked in a staring contest. At last Shinn looked away, shutting his eyes in shame. "Fine," he growled.

"Alright then," Mev said conclusively. "Remember our deal, Mr. Asuka. Viima, if you'd be so kind as to show Mr. Asuka to the hangar..."

Viima gave Shinn an icy glare, grabbed him by the arm, and hauled him out of the bridge. Shinn tossed a helpless glance over his shoulder, finding Stella looking forlornly at him as the bridge door closed.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	18. Phase 18: The Mad Typhoon

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

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Phase 18 - The Mad Typhoon

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**November 8th, CE 73 - Airspace near Boomtown III, Lagrange Point 2**

A flurry of missiles came storming into the face of the Gundam Astray Red Frame, and Lowe Gear let out a yelp of surprise, quickly setting off the Igelstellungs to cut down the missiles.

"Goddammit!" he yelled. "They just keep shooting missiles from the ships!"

The Red Frame burst forward, the Gerbera Straight flashing as Lowe brought it to bear on an incoming Dagger L. The Dagger swung backwards, but the Gerbera Straight cleaved through the Dagger's torso, slicing off its head and right arm. "It slices, it dices!" Lowe shouted with a victorious grin. A solid kick to the torso sent the mobile suit spiraling away, and Lowe snapped his attention to the right. Another pair of Daggers was coming down upon him, beam carbines firing madly. Lowe ground his teeth, taking the shots to the Gerbera Straight's anti-beam coated surface.

Another beam shot blazed through one of the Daggers, destroying it in a blaze, and as the Dagger's partner scanned the black skies for the attacker, a CGUE with a heavy laser sword slashed through it. Lowe grunted in surprise as the Red Frame was thrown backwards from the resulting explosion. "Hey!" he shouted at the CGUE. "Watch it there, will ya?!"

"Enemy above!" Eight shouted out. Lowe snapped his attention up above, and yelped in surprise as a Gundam came storming down, twirling a laser lance over its head. The Gundam brought the weapon down with a slash that the Red Frame's Gerbera Straight barely blocked, and with a flash, the eyes of the Abyss Gundam lit up.

"What the—!" Lowe exclaimed, eyes wide. "Where did _he _come from?!"

"Extreme caution is advised!" Eight bleated. "Pull back!"

"I'm _trying!_" Lowe shouted back, as the Abyss forced the Red Frame away. The Abyss's shoulder shells opened up, and a flurry of beam shots stormed out towards Lowe. "Shit!" The Red Frame smacked the shots away with the Gerbera Straight and took off above. But an instant later there were more beam shots and missiles surrounding the Red Frame, and with another beam shot, the Chaos Gundam dropped in, spewing CIWS fire at the Red Frame. "Dammit!" Lowe growled. "Not another one!" The gunbarrels swarmed around the Red Frame, and Lowe dove backwards to avoid their shots. A Dagger came storming in, its beam saber fired up for a killing slash; Lowe let out a scream—

And suddenly there was another mobile suit in the fray. It used its shield to swing the Dagger's saber up above its head, and followed up with a lethal beam shot.

Silhouetted against the light of the explosion was the Force Impulse Gundam.

"You're that ZAFT deserter!" Lowe shouted in realization. "You! Shinn Asuka!"

The Impulse glanced back at the Red Frame. A moment later, it dove up into the sky above the Red Frame, and angled towards the three Alliance ships. Lowe stared after the Impulse in shock.

"He's going after the ships in _that?!_ Is he insane?!" The Red Frame dodged a beam shot from a Dagger, just in time for a GuAIZ to swoop in and impale it on a shot of its own. "Dammit..." The Red Frame took off after the Impulse. "Eight, open communications with him!" Lowe ordered.

The grim face of Shinn Asuka appeared on one of the Red Frame's side monitors.

"You crazy bastard!" Lowe shouted. "What the hell do you think you're—_WHOA!_"

The Red Frame lurched abruptly as Lowe barely managed to avoid a machinegun burst from one of the _Drake_-class. The _Drake_'s blazing anti-air Vulcan traced the Red Frame's movements for an instant—but an instant later, the Impulse had stormed through the face of the machinegun's line of fire to smash the turret with the end of its shield.

More beam shots flashed through the space around the attacking mobile suits, and both pilots snapped their attention towards the source—several of the Daggers were storming towards them, the Abyss in front of them. The Impulse swung around to face them and charged, and Lowe let out a yelp of surprise as the Red Frame was rattled by more Vulcan fire.

"Dammit!" he grumbled. "What did that crazy bastard get me into...?" He shuddered as the Red Frame shook again, and took after the Impulse.

"Actually, you were the one to follow him," Eight put in. Lowe clenched his teeth.

"Oh shut up!" he shot back. "And reroute some power to the booster! That moron's gonna need help, and I'm just the kinda guy to give it!"

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**Bridge of battlecruiser _Kasselheim_**

"Missiles incoming!" shouted Mike. Mev scowled at the sight out the window.

"Igelstellungs, fire," he ordered. The Igelstellungs shrieked as they fired, and a cloud of fire erupted in front of the _Kasselheim_. "Smokescreen missiles. Mike, switch to infrared scanning and give us ranging data on one of those _Drake_s. Yun, I want all four Gottfrieds ready to fire on whatever data Mike gives us. Make it quick, that cloud won't last for long."

The crew dove into their new tasks, and Mev sat back. "Miss Loussier," he said quietly, glancing at Stella as she wrung her hands worriedly, "calm down. We're not so easy to defeat."

"We've got the data!" Yun shouted from the weapons console. Mev glanced over at her.

"Aim it along any vector. Fire as soon as you've got one."

There was a short pause, and then the rumble of the Gottfrieds firing. The green pulsing beams lanced through the clouds of smoke, and there was a smaller rumble of an explosion. The force of the shots and the blow they struck dispersed the clouds, to reveal the port side of one of the _Drake_s smoldering—but the majority of the ship remained intact. Mev scowled and opened his mouth to speak again.

Before he could, however, something blasted out of the smoke and came storming towards the _Kasselheim_'s bridge. Mev furrowed his brow at the approaching Chaos Gundam.

"Shoot that thing down," he ordered. The Igelstellungs fired and a swarm of missiles rushed towards the Chaos, but the Chaos charged in, and snapped up its beam rifle, aiming at the bridge. It opened fire, and a green bolt came flashing towards the bridge windows—

And then there was another bolt, slamming into the Chaos's shot and spoiling it. The Chaos slammed on the brakes and glowered in the direction of the attacker, just in time to throw up its shield as the Force Impulse slammed down with its beam saber.

"Shinn..." Stella murmured, staring blankly at the Impulse and Chaos as they launched into a vicious beam saber duel. Mev watched pensively.

"He only saved us so he could keep her safe," Viima snarled. Mev arched an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Kika, send George to cover him," he ordered. "I suppose we'll be seeing just what Mr. Asuka is all about."

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**Bridge of Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_**

Neo Roanoke watched with a smirk as the Chaos took on the Impulse.

"The plot thickens," he said at last. Lee turned inquisitively towards him, and Neo at last glanced back at him. "Come on, Lee, surely you weren't expecting that Shinn fellow to start _defending_ those pirates?"

"Of course not," Lee answered gruffly. "I just think we should launch the Windams too."

"The Windams only chewed up and spit out those ZAFT units at Arzachel because ZAFT didn't see them coming," Neo admonished him. "And because those ZAFT pilots aren't the battlefield gods they think they are. But that kid is a cut above the rank-and-file ZAFT grunt." He smirked again. "I may have to pay a little visit myself."

"He could dish out some serious damage to you, too," Lee warned. "He beat you on Earth, after all." Neo chuckled.

"Well, I'm not a ZAFT pilot," he answered, smirking again. "I know when to stop before I get killed. They don't." He got out of his chair and drifted towards the door. "I'll leave the ship in your hands. I'll launch in the Exus, then you send out the Windams and start attacking that pirate ship."

"You're not launching in your Windam?" Lee asked, arching an eyebrow. Neo shook his head.

"The Exus's gunbarrels will make life more miserable for him. Besides, I want to test something. You attack the pirate ship."

"Yes sir," Lee answered. "And the Junk Guild ship?"

"Hell if I care," Neo snorted dismissively. "Just focus on those pirates."

The door slid shut with a hiss.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Outside Boomtown III**

"This bastard just won't _die!_" Auel's voice growled through the speaker. Sting glanced at it in annoyance and returned his attention to the twisting and dodging Impulse. He fired his beam rifle; the Impulse swept below his shot and smashed into the Chaos with its shield.

"Auel, get around it!" Sting shouted, pulling back and drawing his beam saber. The Abyss lined up behind the Impulse, but a moment later, it was attacked by the Red Frame and pulled back to dodge an overhead sword slash.

"Goddammit!" Auel shouted. "What the hell _is_ this guy?! I thought they were just junk techs!"

The Impulse brought its beam saber down on the Chaos; Sting caught the blow with the Chaos's shield. "Fine, you take care of the Impulse!" he shouted. "I'll worry about that Junk Guild suit!"

Inside the Impulse, Shinn screamed as he jetted up into the Chaos's path, slamming his beam saber against its shield. "You won't touch Stella!" he shouted. "I got her this far, I'm not letting you kill her!"

"Shinn!" Lowe shouted; the Red Frame ducked under a lance swipe from the Abyss and slammed his Gerbera Straight against the Abyss's shoulder shell. "You go worry about those ships! I'll handle these two!"

"But—" Shinn began.

"The sooner we get rid of their motherships, the sooner they leave!" Lowe yelled back. "Now go!"

Shinn turned and took off towards the three battleships; the Daggers rose to meet him. Resolutely, he activated the Impulse's beam saber and charged. Storming forward, he dove down at one Dagger and slashed it in half before it could react. The others dropped from their charge and swept down after him. Beam shots rained around him, and he whipped around to face the next attacker.

The Daggers split up, showering him with beam fire; Shinn backed away behind his shield. A pair of beam shots sliced through two of the Daggers, and Shinn glanced over at the CGUE and the GuAIZ as they attacked the Daggers from the side.

Shinn diverted his attention to the left, as a shower of missiles flashed around him. The two _Drake_s were firing volleys of missiles, while the _Nelson_ was firing with its beam cannons. Shinn burst upward to avoid a beam burst and fired his CIWS, cutting down a trio of approaching missiles.

Another burst of fire diverted Shinn's attention again, and he swung his beam saber in the direction of the attacker. A Dagger charged in with a drawn beam saber, and Shinn parried the first two attacks before slamming back hard on the third. The Dagger, momentarily stunned by the force of Shinn's counterattack, fell easily when Shinn stabbed his saber into its stomach. Turning again, he found a red explosive shell slamming into him, pushing him backwards.

Another Dagger, toting a bazooka, came streaking towards him, and Shinn immediately cut the shells down with a CIWS burst. He jetted backwards, just in time to avoid another bazooka shell. Shinn fired his CIWS, but the Dagger's shield swung up to defend, firing back with its bazooka. Shinn dodged the blast and stormed in at close range, impaling the Dagger on his beam saber.

Missiles and beam shots caught Shinn's attention next as the Daggers began to draw back towards their ships. One of the _Drake_s was already aflame from the _Kasselheim_'s previous hit; the _Kasselheim_ fired its Gottfrieds again, smashing head-on into the damaged cruiser and wiping it out in a violent explosion.

Shinn glanced to his right and dodged another beam cannon burst, jetting upwards and switching to his beam rifle. The Exus passed by underneath his feet; inside the cockpit, Neo glanced over his shoulder at the Impulse.

"You've come a long way, kid," he said. "Kudos for screwing over ZAFT at Arzachel, but now your luck's run out!" He wheeled around for another pass and launched his gunbarrels; the gunbarrel sabers ignited and all four charged straight at the Impulse.

Inside the Impulse, Shinn narrowed his eyes at the oncoming weapons. He could see them charging at him; a white bolt of energy flashed through the air—

The first gunbarrel charged at him; Shinn batted it aside with his shield and shot down the second before it could come any closer. He jetted up over the third and shot it down, and ducked beneath the fourth.

Neo watched in disbelief, pulling his remaining gunbarrels back. "What the hell was _that?!_" he exclaimed. He surrounded the Impulse with as much beam fire as he could manage with his remaining gunbarrels; Shinn fired up and sliced a shot across the Exus's side, tearing an ugly scar into its fuselage. Neo grunted and swung a gunbarrel behind the Impulse; Shinn whipped around and speared it on a beam shot. The last gunbarrel ignited its sabers and charged; Shinn turned with a scream, drawing his beam saber and slicing the gunbarrel in half in one fluid motion.

Neo pulled back, scowling. "What the hell is with this kid?!" he yelled. The Impulse charged, brandishing its beam saber; the Exus tried to dodge, but Shinn tore another scar into its side, and its right-hand beam cannon went spiraling away. The Exus fired its thrusters, and Neo grunted in disbelief as he pulled back and angled for the _Girty Lue_.

Shinn watched the smoldering Exus retreat, and turned his attention to the remaining _Drake_-class as a plan began to take shape in his mind. He charged, pulling his beam saber back and plowing through the _Drake_'s Vulcan fire effortlessly; he slammed his saber into the _Drake_'s upper starboard missile launcher. The missile launcher exploded; Shinn took cover behind his shield and swept over to the side to slash the _Drake_'s bridge out. As the ship began to list towards the _Nelson_, Shinn impaled the remaining starboard missile launcher through the _Drake_'s ruined catapult; the explosion sent the _Drake_ drifting faster towards the _Nelson_.

"_Kasselheim_, shoot the _Drake!_" Shinn shouted, pulling back.

On the bridge of the _Kasselheim_, Kika blinked in surprise and looked over her shoulder at Mev.

"Captain, Shinn wants us to attack that _Drake_-class!" she exclaimed. Mev's face remained impassive.

"Then attack we will," he said. "Yun, fire the Gottfrieds and Valiants at that listing _Drake-_class, and send some missiles towards the mobile suits."

The Daggers charged; Shinn took cover behind his shield, grunting as the beams slammed against his shield. The Red Frame spiraled into the fray with a sword slash, but the Daggers turned their firepower on Lowe, and he pulled back with Shinn.

The _Kasselheim_'s guns blazed; the missiles plowed into the Daggers, as the Gottfrieds' and Valiants' shots smashed into the _Drake_'s engines. The ship was torn apart by a thunderous explosion that engulfed the _Nelson_; a second explosion signaled the remaining ship's demise as well. The _Girty Lue_ began to launch signal flares; the Chaos and Abyss took off.

Shinn shut down his beam saber with a sigh, glancing over the wreckage, and then looked over at the Red Frame.

"I underestimated you," Lowe said with a smile. "You kicked ass, buddy." He offered an amiable thumbs-up.

Shinn blinked in surprise. "...who are you?"

Lowe gasped in mock disbelief. "You don't know who I am?" he asked melodramatically. "Why, I am the one, the only, the almighty—"

"Stop being cool, Lowe!" a tinny, digitalized voice put in. Lowe glared at something off-screen.

"Shut up, Eight," he snapped. "I'm Lowe Gear," he added resignedly.

Shinn nodded. "Lowe Gear," he said to himself.

"Well," Lowe went on, "since your new friends still want their parts and stuff, I suppose I'd better be going. Kisato will probably screw something up without me."

"I WILL NOT!" an angry girl's voice screamed through the Red Frame's cockpit. The Red Frame offered the Impulse a mock salute. "I'll be seeing ya, eh?" Lowe added.

"...yeah," Shinn said hesitantly. The Red Frame took off towards the _ReHOME_; Shinn watched it go for a moment and then took off towards the _Kasselheim_.

On the bridge of the _Kasselheim_, Mev sat back and watched as the GuAIZ and the CGUE returned to the hangar and the Impulse approached.

"Miss Loussier," he said, "it seems you got lucky."

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**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, ZAFT Military Affairs Station, PLANT, Lagrange Point 5**

The _Minerva_ was swarming with workers and construction braces, like ants over a corpse. Even as the _Minerva_ was repaired, however, what was left of the ZAFT Combined 1st Fleet was undergoing even more fervent repairs, as the workers tried to salvage what could still be salvaged. A cloud of worker machines buzzed around the massacred fleet.

The _Minerva_'s catapult decks were open; two thin, gray mobile suits were landing, carrying between them a massive crate. Inside the hangar, from the vantage point of her recuperating ZAKU's cockpit hatch, Lunamaria watched dejectedly as two more mobile suits stomped into the _Minerva_'s hangar.

She blinked in surprise at two Phase Shift-down Impulse Gundams, carrying a crate marked with the ZAFT logo and tiny print that Luna was too far away to read. The Impulses set their cargo down; a crane began to pull out a Sword Silhouette flyer. Luna stood up, watching curiously as the two Impulses were ushered off to the corner of the hangar where Shinn's Impulse had been kept, to be disassembled and returned to the Impulse catapult. Their pilots, both in red flight suits, disembarked as the mechanics set to work; Luna hopped off of her ZAKU to follow them.

Inside the locker room, Luna blinked in surprise as she met two ZAFT Reds, no older than herself. The first of them turned around; Luna found herself staring into a gentle, unassuming female face with red eyes and hair, and a thin golden earring on her left ear.

"Oh, so you must be Lunamaria," she said, turning to look at Luna. "They told us what happened."

Luna sputtered in confusion. "Wha—who are you?"

Her companion stepped out from behind her; a thin young man, looking somewhat overwhelmed, with awe shimmering in his green eyes. He ran a hand through his dark green hair.

"We're the _Minerva_'s new pilots," he said. "We're here to help you hunt down the traitor Asuka."

"'The traitor Asuka?'" Luna echoed in disbelief.

"That's Shinn Asuka's new nickname among the rest of us ZAFTies," the girl said with a smile. "Word got out pretty quickly that he'd betrayed us. We're here to take him out." She paused. "Oh, wait, we never introduced ourselves." She extended her right hand. "I'm Aoma Vedlow."

Luna took her hand hesitantly and numbly shook, looking over Aoma's shoulder at her companion.

"Ruumari Star," he supplied with a smile, shaking Luna's hand as well. "We'll be piloting Impulse units."

"Guess you're not the rookie around here anymore, huh?" Aoma asked amiably. Luna looked at them both numbly.

"I-I guess not," she said uneasily.

"It must've been hard to fight alongside Shinn for so long and all of the sudden he up and turns on you," Ruumari said with a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry. We'll help you have your revenge."

Luna looked awkwardly at him. "I need to be going," she said suddenly. "It was good meeting you. I'm sure the captain will want to speak to you." She brushed past them hurriedly, strapping her helmet back on and sweeping back into the hangar.

Aoma and Ruumari looked after her, glanced at each other, and shrugged.

"Well," Aoma began, "I guess we should go find the captain first before we make ourselves at home."

"It'll be good to actually do some fighting," Ruumari said, as he opened the door and he and Aoma both walked out into the corridor. "That garrison assignment on Maius 5 was boring as sin."

"It wasn't that bad," Aoma said with a shrug. "Could've been worse."

"Of course it could've been worse," Ruumari snorted. "For you, anyways, Miss 99th Percentile."

Aoma rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Ruumari, you got into the 97th, it's not like you flunked out of the Academy."

"Well, it doesn't matter now," Ruumari said with a sweep of his hand. "Now we're finally getting a piece of the action, and I'll show you what I can _really _do."

Aoma laughed knowingly. "Of course you will," she said. "Now help me find the captain, before we got lost."

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**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to Lagrange Point 1**

Shinn felt distinctly cold. His light gray civilian clothes, stowed in the Impulse's limited cargo space, was intended to be worn during the spring and summer, not on a pirate ship with a broken heater. Or, at least, that was Shinn's hypothesis; he didn't see why else it was so cold.

Mev had assigned Shinn and Stella a sparse room that had evidently once belonged to one of the ship's crew, whose fate Shinn saw fit not to inquire into. The _Kasselheim_ was en route to Lagrange Point 1 and its numerous colonies; Shinn and Stella were along for the ride as part of their deal with Mev.

Stella was still curled up in bed, under multiple layers of covers, more or less sound asleep. Shinn had ventured outside to find something to eat, though he felt uncomfortable around anyone else on the ship and could hardly wait for them to reach Lagrange Point 1, so they could disembark.

Shinn stopped short as he heard voices around a corner. He looked around for someplace to hide, but it was no use; he would be resigned to socialization.

"New Haven?" a male voice said in disbelief. "Why are we going to a dump like that?"

"Dropping off our new friends," a female voice answered. Shinn tensed as the speakers rounded the corner—

A moment later, Shinn was face-to-face with, all things considered, a beautiful woman. Big blue eyes stared at him thoughtfully from underneath a mop of brown hair tied into a ponytail. Shinn employed every ounce of willpower he could muster not to look at the rest of her.

She glanced back at her companion. "Well, speak of the devil," she said, looking back at Shinn with a crooked grin. "Hiya Shinn. I'm Kika." She gestured over her shoulder at her companion, a blond-haired man with blue eyes, wearing a black shirt and fading blue jeans. "And that's Mike."

"Hi," Mike said neutrally.

"What are you doing out here?" Kika asked, putting her hands on her hips expectantly. "I thought you were too shy to talk to any of us." She paused and glanced knowingly at Mike. "Or maybe you've just been too busy." Mike snickered in spite of himself; Shinn realized what she meant and sputtered in shock, blushing.

"Wha—no!" he protested. "I was just looking for something to eat—"

"Sure you are," Mike put in with a smirk, glancing at Kika.

Kika shook her head with a smile. "Jeez, you look like such a lost puppy," she giggled. "Hard to believe you're Mr. Orb Marauder."

Shinn blinked; Orb Marauder?

"What, you didn't even hear about your own nickname?" Mike asked, arching an eyebrow. "Talk about a hamster ball! Were you that cut off from the outside world on that ship?"

"Ah, don't worry 'bout it, Shinn," Kika said, patting him on the shoulder and making him blink in surprise again. "So what were you out here for? You wanted some food, right?"

"How does instant ramen sound?" Mike asked, crossing his arms. "If that doesn't tickle your fancy, we've also got instant ramen, and if you're lucky, we might be able to find you some instant ramen too."

"Well that's only because Miki tried to cook that turkey and you know how _that_ turned out," Kika said, rolling her eyes. "Cute kid, but she needs to learn that the microwave really _isn't_ that bad."

Shinn looked back and forth helplessly between Kika and Mike; Kika glanced at him and laughed.

"Oh, okay, fine. Mike, go away," she said, grabbing Mike by the arm and shoving him down the hall. "You're confusing Shinn."

"Wha—" Mike sputtered, turning as he drifted down the corridor. "What the hell, you're sinking your teeth into the new guy already?"

"Shut up, you," Kika shot back, sticking her tongue out at him defiantly and grabbing Shinn by the shoulders before he could begin to sputter again in protest.

Shinn tried to get his bearings, but he felt utterly lost as Kika deftly landed next to him and swiveled him around to face her.

"Well, now that there's only one person for you to talk to," Kika said, "we can start all over. Hi, I'm Kika."

Shinn blinked at her, utterly failing to understand. Kika giggled at him.

"If you want to get your little girlfriend anything to eat, you have to talk to me," she warned. "I'm not _that_ scary. Did your mommy tell you not to talk to scary pirates or something?"

Shinn blinked at her and looked away indignantly. Kika paused in surprise.

"My family's dead," Shinn said tersely. Kika blinked.

"...oh...wow, I'm sorry," she said softly. "I mean, I had no idea—"

"Who ever does?" Shinn asked, looking back at her. She looked back into his eyes in surprise; Shinn paused as he noticed a strange feeling welling up in the back of his mind. He couldn't tell why, but somehow he knew Kika was actually sorry. He looked away awkwardly.

"...well anyways," Kika said, just as awkwardly, "I guess you still want to get some food, huh." She paused. "Come on, I'll take you to the galley." Before he could say anything, Kika grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down the corridor.

"Y-you don't have to—" Shinn began helplessly.

"Oh fine, you pussy," Kika said, letting go of him. "Jeez, you're touchy."

Shinn looked awkwardly towards the floor.

"So," Kika went on, "why'd ya ditch ZAFT?" Shinn blinked, looking back at her. "I mean, you were a big famous mobile suit ace, you had an overly macho nickname, you must've been racking up combat bonuses...so why'd you throw it all away?"

Shinn stared hatefully at the wall. "I didn't throw anything away," he grumbled under his breath.

"What?" Kika asked, leaning closer towards him. Shinn cast a sidelong glance at her.

"It's a long story," he said, hoping to disinterest her.

"It's a long trip to the galley and back, too," Kika countered. "Why bother? I won't hurt you. After we drop you off on L1 then it'll be the last you see of us."

Shinn looked away resolutely.

"If you don't tell me, I won't get you anything to eat," Kika added. Shinn muttered a curse under his breath.

"It wouldn't interest you," Shinn said resignedly, trying still to weasel his way out of trying to retell the past few weeks.

"Oh, but it does," Kika said with a smile. "Are you going to be stubborn? I can be stubborn too."

Shinn wondered why she was so interested in him and resigned himself to fate.

"Stella was in the Earth Alliance," Shinn began quietly. "I met her on shore leave, and later on I captured her. The _Minerva_'s crew was just going to let her die, and the Chairman was just going to use her for propaganda, so I gave her back to the Alliance so they could save her." He looked up at Kika, finding her listening attentively. "I was supposed to be executed, but the Chairman intervened to clear my charges, and we were sent to Arzachel. My friends tried to kill Stella...so I protected her."

Kika blinked in surprise. "You turned on your own friends to protect her?"

"It's complicated!" Shinn exclaimed, glaring up at Kika. "You wouldn't understand! No one would understand!" He pounded the wall angrily. "Nobody would understand what it's like to feel the fear your enemies are feeling! How can you fight when you're as afraid as your enemy?! How can you protect anyone when you're as scared to die as the enemy?!"

"Calm down, Shinn!" Kika said, stopping them both in the middle of the corridor and grabbing Shinn by the shoulders. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked up sharply at her. "Jeez, you've had it rougher than I thought," she went on. "I don't know what you were talking about with that 'feeling your enemies' fear' stuff, but hey, it's okay now. You've left ZAFT, Stella's left the Alliance. You can get away from the war now. There are plenty of corners in the world where ZAFT and the Alliance won't look for you."

Shinn glared spitefully at the floor. "That's what I thought when I lived in Orb," he muttered. "'Nobody will come here, the government will keep the Alliance away, we'll stay out of foreign wars and not forgive an invasion'...yeah, that sure went well."

"Well, Orb was stupid anyways," Kika said. "They thought that they could be a world power and stay out of world affairs, and it wound up costing people like you."

Shinn looked away angrily. "You wouldn't understand why I left ZAFT," he said resolutely. "The only people who _would_ understand are the people I was getting away from when I left."

Kika looked at Shinn awkwardly and shook her head. "Such a bag of issues," she said, laughing uneasily. "Well, now you've left, you're on your own, you're in charge of your own destiny." She turned Shinn's head to look back at her. "Sound good?"

Shinn said nothing, staring at her in surprise.

"Now come on," she said, pulling him along down the corridor. "Wouldn't wanna keep your girlfriend waiting."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, ZAFT Military Affairs Station, PLANT, Lagrange Point 5**

"Why did he break?"

Gilbert Dullindal stood in the room once occupied by Shinn Asuka; Rey Za Burrel was slumped in a corner, nursing a swollen cheek and a split lip, staring up fearfully at the Chairman. Gilbert glared down at Rey, towering over him.

"I entrusted him to you, Rey," Gilbert said venomously. "I left him in your hands, to mold and develop. I left his Newtype powers in your hands; I left it to you to guide him and make him one of us. Now he's broken and left. Why? What did you do wrong?"

"I-It wasn't me, Gil!" Rey protested. "It was that Extended!"

"Of course it was," Gilbert snarled. "Why did you let her get to him? Why did you let her twist him against us? He is a powerful Newtype, Rey. He was a formidable asset when he was on our side; now he is a dangerous foe. He could throw our entire plan into jeopardy. Why did you let this happen?"

"I didn't!" Rey exclaimed, tears coming to his eyes. "He didn't understand his powers, he was upset, I told him that he had to keep fighting and be strong to make your new world, Gil, just like you told me to! But he couldn't take it!"

"Why?" Gilbert asked furiously.

"Because he didn't want to suffer," another voice interrupted.

Gilbert wheeled around furiously, finding himself face to face with Talia Gladys, her arms crossed, an angry expression on her face. Before he knew what hit him, Talia smacked him across the face.

"How _dare_ you blame Rey for your own mistakes!" Talia shouted. "You lied to Shinn! You told him being a Newtype would make him 'special'! You never told him about the suffering he'd go through! He's gone through enough suffering as it is! Not everyone breaks down and bends the knee to you like Rey did!"

Gilbert's eyes flashed as he slowly turned to look back at Talia.

"And what right do _you_ have to question me?" Gilbert asked, scowling. "What do _you_ know about Newtypes, or Shinn, or bringing about a better world?"

"I know enough to know why Shinn left," Talia shot back. "You were going to let that Extended girl die; Shinn cared too much about her to let you. This is what happens when you try to push your little Newtypes along, Gilbert! They break! But not all of them wind up like Rey! Shinn still had another way out, and he took it!"

Gilbert snarled in rage. "I'll destroy you, Talia, if you so much as _dare_ to stand in my way." He narrowed his eyes at her. "And don't doubt that I would; you aren't so important as to be completely irreplaceable."

He shoved past her violently and stalked out of the room; Talia glared after him as he left and turned to help Rey up. He stared back at her, guardedly and suspiciously; she shook her head and left the room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 9th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to Lagrange Point 1**

"...cold..."

Shinn glanced up at Stella from his haunt near the door of their room. Stella was sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the wall. She looked over at Shinn.

Shinn offered her his jacket; she stared blankly at it, and Shinn draped it over her shoulders. "They told me it's always cold here," he said. "I guess we'll just have to get used to it."

"...okay," Stella said. Shinn glanced over his shoulder as their door opened.

Shinn narrowed his eyes suspicious at the man dressed in black, thin and sinewy, with long blond hair tied into a harsh ponytail and green eyes that stared at him easily and indifferently.

"Who are you?" Shinn asked uneasily.

"My name is George Morrison," he said smoothly. "I am here to inform you that our arrival at New Haven in Lagrange Point 1 is going to be delayed."

Shinn's eyes widened angrily. "What? Why?"

"We have an enemy on our tail," George said dourly. "We will have to shake him before we can dock. If he attacks us in port, there is no escape for us. Surely you can agree that this is only fair."

"Who's following us?" Shinn demanded.

George swept past Shinn towards the room's television set; he quickly turned it on and rifled through the channels, before he stopped and stepped back. Shinn stared in disbelief as he saw the Chairman of the PLANTs, Gilbert Dullindal, sitting at his desk, about to give an address.

"_He_ will tell you who is following us," George said, crossing his arms.

"Citizens of the PLANTs," Gilbert began grimly, "to all who lost a loved one to the treacherous setback at Arzachel Crater, I offer my deepest condolences. I speak to you, citizens of the PLANTs, as you mourn the deaths of your own loved ones, ZAFT's defeat, and the loss of a hero."

"A hero?" Shinn murmured.

"I mourn as well," Gilbert continued. "But the war has not ended, and it will not pause to let us grieve. The Alliance shall be made to end this foolish war soon, but for now, we have another foe to fight as well. A far different foe." He paused meaningfully. "As you no doubt know, during the battle at Arzachel Crater, we were betrayed and many brave soldiers of ZAFT killed by one of our own." His eyes narrowed. "The Impulse Gundam's pilot, Shinn Asuka."

"What's he trying to do?!" Shinn cried.

"Shinn!" Stella exclaimed, grabbing his arm in worry. George cast a wary glance at them both.

"The people have clamored for justice," Gilbert went on. "And so, with heavy heart, justice shall be served. I have sent two battleships after him; to command them, I have dispatched our flagship, the _Minerva_."

"The _Minerva?_" Shinn echoed in shock. "You mean—"

"That's who's tailing us," George finished grimly.

"But that...that's...impossible," Shinn murmured helplessly. "I...I left them behind..."

"It seems they don't want to be forgotten," George said. "We will alter our route to L1. We may have to fight." He uncrossed his arms and strode out of the room.

"Shinn..." Stella began uneasily.

Shinn's eyes flashed furiously. "They're coming back for me," he murmured. "They won't let me go."

"Shinn," Stella repeated, "Shinn is being scary..."

"They won't take me back," Shinn snarled. "I'll protect you, Stella..._no matter what!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	19. Phase 19: Justice and Vengeance

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 19 - Justice and Vengeance

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 9th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to Lagrange Point 1**

Shinn Asuka sat on his bed aboard the _Kasselheim_, head in his hands, trying to figure out what to do. He and Stella would be under the pirates' auspices longer; well, that wasn't necessarily okay, but there wasn't too much distance to go until they reached L1, and until then, it couldn't be helped. The _Minerva_ was coming after him, with all the anger of the PLANTs behind it; well, as Kika had said, there were plenty of corners in the Earth Sphere that Stella and Shinn could hide in. He was the master of his own destiny now. He had the power to run now. He didn't have to face ZAFT; he didn't have to face his friends again; he didn't have to face Rey and the Chairman and their Newtypes. He could control his own life.

So why did he feel so helpless?

He stood up and glanced at Stella; she stared back at him.

"We'll have to hide, I guess," he said sullenly. "But we'll do whatever it takes. I won't let them hurt you."

"...Shinn looks scared," Stella said quietly; Shinn blinked in surprise, and Stella looked up earnestly at him. "Is there a scary thing coming to get Shinn?"

"Wha—a scary thing?" he echoed. "Nothing scary is coming after us, Stella."

"But what about Shinn?" Stella asked insistently. "Shinn will protect Stella...but who will protect Shinn?"

Shinn stared at her for a moment; who _would_ protect him?

"Don't worry about it," he said, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. "We'll be alright."

"...okay," she said, unconvinced.

Shinn led her out into the hallway, intent on helping her calibrate her mobile suit for their trip through Lagrange Point 1. He glanced nervously at her; she stared back, blankly, but almost as if she were studying Shinn.

"We're not a taxi service," an indignant female voice growled from around the corner; Shinn stopped short in surprise. "We're pirates."

"Well," a man's voice—Shinn recognized it as George's—answered, "if it weren't for Shinn, we'd be stardust."

"Yeah," spoke up the voice of a girl that sounded unnervingly young. "Even though he trashed my GINN, that jerk."

The speakers rounded a corner, and Shinn stared cautiously at an imposing woman in a ZAFT Black Shirt uniform, with long black hair and two grim red eyes, one of which bore a long scar over it. At her side was George, looking impassively at them both; at the woman's other side, however, was a short young girl with a big brown ponytail and wide blue eyes, staring back in surprise at Shinn.

"Zora," George spoke up, looking at the woman in the ZAFT uniform. "Don't. Let's go."

Zora snorted indifferently. "Whatever," she said airily. "They're just two fugitives, and I'm in no mood to die— "

Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief; Stella's widened in horror, and she backed away, tears springing from her eyes as she stared ahead in terror. Zora stopped short in confusion.

"What—?" she began.

Stella cut them all off with a wordless shriek of terror. Shinn swept her up in his arms.

"It's okay!" he shouted. "You won't die! I'll protect you!"

"Stella's scared!" Stella insisted. Shinn held her tighter.

"Don't worry!" he yelled back, struggling to hold her close as she thrashed in terror. "You won't die! I'll protect you! Remember?!"

"But it's scary!" she exclaimed.

"It's okay!" the girl exclaimed, stepping in front of Zora. "We'll protect you!"

Shinn blinked in surprise at looked at her; she was pointedly ignoring Shinn, though, and staring right at Stella.

"What the hell is going on? Why is she acting this way?" Zora demanded. "All I did was say—"

"Stop," George cut in. "That word upsets her. We shouldn't say it again."

"That's ridiculous!" Zora spat. "What the hell _is _she?!"

"She's complicated!" Shinn snapped. "She's different from you and me! Now don't say that word, or you'll scare her again!"

Stella sniffled against Shinn's shoulder and glanced in fright at Zora, tears brimming in her eyes.

Zora sneered and stalked away; George let out an exasperated sigh.

"My apologies, Shinn," he said, glancing at Shinn as he stared suspiciously back. He glanced down at the girl, who stared back stubbornly at him.

"How come she freaks out if you say that word?" she asked. Shinn blinked in surprise at her; the girl stared at him expectantly.

"She's different," he said cautiously.

"I know," the girl shot back, "but why?"

"Why do you want to know?" Shinn asked, still cautious.

The girl scowled at him. "Because I wanna help her."

Stella looked down at the girl; Shinn blinked in surprise again.

"Miki, that's enough," George said, taking her by the shoulders. "They've had enough stress for one day. Let's leave them alone."

Miki glared up at George before she headed off down the hall; George gave Shinn a curt nod as he left.

Shinn watched them go suspiciously; Stella stared after them blankly.

"...that girl wants...to help...?" she asked, slowly looking at Shinn. Shinn looked back at her.

"I don't know, Stella," he said softly, looking back down the hallway. "I just don't know."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Lagrange Point 2**

"Reports indicate that two Gundam-type mobile suits were seen near the colony of Boomtown III in Lagrange Point 2," Meyrin read from her display. She looked over her shoulder uneasily at Talia. "However," she continued, "the next day the colony was attacked by an unknown vessel, and the two Gundams were seen fighting inside the colony."

Talia sat back, crossing her arms and staring ahead neutrally.

"An unknown vessel," she said. "Lagrange Point 2 is supposedly home to pirate gangs. And both ZAFT and the Alliance posted bounties for Shinn and Stella." She put a hand to her chin in thought. "The unknown vessel was probably a mercenary or pirate ship."

"Pirates?" Arthur echoed. "Then this should be easy!"

"But," Meyrin went on awkwardly, "the Gundams are rumored to have been captured by the pirates."

Talia glanced at Arthur. "Any pirate that could overcome a mobile suit pilot like Shinn must be far from 'easy,'" she said pointedly; Arthur looked at the floor in defeat. Talia looked up to her right. "Burt, can you tell which way they went after they left the colony?"

"I can't tell, captain," he said discouragingly. "There's a great deal of debris left over around the colony. There are still heat signatures, so it looks like there was some kind of battle not too long ago."

"Debris...?" Talia echoed in surprise. "Bring up a visual of the colony's surroundings."

The main screen flickered to life; Talia's gaze came to rest on the desiccated corpse of a Dagger L.

"Those are Alliance mobile suits," Arthur observed. Talia nodded grimly.

"The Alliance must be after them too," she said. "They must want to recapture Stella."

"But I don't understand," Arthur protested. "If Stella was dependent on someone in the Alliance, and that's why Shinn gave her back, then why did they desert together?"

Talia sat back. "Who knows?" she answered. "That's not our concern right now."

"But what if he joins the Alliance?" Arthur went on.

"He won't," Talia said confidently. "He only gave Stella back to them to save her; he didn't do it for the Alliance's sake."

Arthur looked confused; Talia glanced back up at Burt.

"Look for some exhaust trails or some kind of indication as to which way the pirates went," she ordered. "We have a lead; we're going to follow it."

"Yes ma'am," Burt answered, diving into his work. Talia returned her gaze out the bridge windows.

_Shinn, you're out there somewhere...for your sake, make sure we'll never find you._

——————————————————————————————————————————

From the cockpit hatch of his freshly repaired ZAKU Phantom, Rey watched impassively as the _Minerva_'s two new mobile suit pilots conversed with Vino and Yolant.

They were new; they were young; they were out to defeat Shinn, but had no idea what they were up against. Rey knew what Shinn was capable of; he knew now that Shinn was an enemy, and had to be defeated, but there remained one tiny ray of hope left that Shinn could be made to return to ZAFT. His return would have to be kept secret from the public, of course, but there was still a chance.

The red-haired rookie—Aoma, as Rey recalled—came drifting up towards him. He stared impassively at her; she looked as if she was going to say something, but decided not to, and pushed off in another direction, towards the Impulse catapult.

Rey stared over her shoulder, and glowered at the empty Impulse catapult. Shinn had betrayed them all; Shinn had betrayed _him_, Rey Za Burrel, his best friend, the one who relied on him to make a future Rey himself was too weak and frail to make. Rey had given to Shinn his dream of creating Gil's new world, and Shinn had taken that dream and destroyed it.

Rey scowled. There could be no forgiveness.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 10th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to Lagrange Point 1**

"...Stella doesn't wanna leave."

Shinn looked up in surprise at Stella as they both sat in their room, Shinn with a ream of data sheets from the Impulse's computer in hand, Stella with a big bottle of water.

"You don't?" Shinn asked. "Why?"

"Stella feels happy here," she said quietly. "...it's like home."

Shinn looked down at the floor sullenly. "Like home…?"

"Doesn't Shinn wanna stay here...?" Stella asked, looking up at him with wide eyes. Shinn blinked and looked back up at her.

"...I don't know," he said. "I mean, they're pirates."

Stella stared blankly at him for a second. "What're pirates?" she asked.

Shinn opened his mouth to tell her, but something in the back of his mind stopped him. Stella didn't know what these people, the Mad Typhoon Gang, were. She didn't know what they did. All she knew about them was that on their ship, she felt like she was at home.

Shinn looked away unhappily. The _Minerva_ had never felt like home. The only home he had ever had was in Orb...and _that _had gone up in smoke.

The door slid open; Shinn glanced up at it, and blinked in surprise as Kika stepped through, her arms crossed.

"The captain wants to talk to you," she said plainly. "Come with me."

Shinn stood up, standing guardedly between Kika and Stella.

"Hey, calm down," she said with a smirk, "we're not gonna hurt you."

Shinn glared. "What do you mean?"

Kika looked aside in exasperation. "The captain wants to talk to you about your little ZAFT buddies," she said. "We've already had the Alliance all over us about you two. We don't want to deal with ZAFT too."

"I thought you were just going to take us to L1 and let us be," Shinn said, glaring suspiciously at her. Kika looked back at him, shrugging.

"Well, hey, we have our own asses to look out for too," she said defensively. "We're still heading towards L1, you can get off whenever you like. We would've been wiped out had you not protected the ship against that Alliance group." She offered a weak grin. "At least you proved why you were a mobile suit ace."

"Then why does the captain want to talk to me?" Shinn asked. "I know all this already."

Kika shook her head. "Look, just shut up and come with me," she said, still smiling. "You're being difficult."

Shinn glanced back at Stella; she stared at him with an edge of apprehension.

"Alright," he said. "Stella, will you be alright here?" She nodded slowly; Shinn heaved a sigh and walked out the door with Kika.

Kika glanced over her shoulder at Shinn. "So what're you gonna do when you get to L1?"

Shinn looked warily at her. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"What do you think I mean?" Kika shot back, quirking an eyebrow. "What do you want to do with this new life you've got in front of you?"

Shinn looked away in annoyance at the wall. "I haven't thought about it," he said. "Right now I just want to protect Stella."

Kika giggled; Shinn glared at her. "Sorry," she said, waving her hands apologetically in front of her, "it's just kinda cute. Not many people are devoted enough to someone else to sacrifice so much for their sake."

Shinn looked at the floor silently.

"So do I get to hear the rest of the story?" she asked, leaning over and arching an eyebrow again. "Or are you gonna be all withholding?"

Shinn looked at her in surprise. "What more do you want to know?"

"Well, it's not everyday we get to meet someone as interesting as you," Kika said, putting her hands on her hips with, jokingly indignant.

Shinn glared at the wall. "I'm not that interesting," he grumbled under his breath. "I'm not some special Newtype."

Kika blinked and looked at Shinn. "_Newtype?_" she asked disbelievingly. "You don't really believe that stuff, do you?"

"Yes, I do!" Shinn snapped, stopping and wheeling around, glowering at Kika. She pulled back in surprise. "Yes, I do believe this stuff! It's real! There's no other reason why I'm suffering like this! There's no other reason why I'm feeling the fear my enemies feel as I kill them! There's no other reason why I can see the future, why I keep having to fight, why I have to—!"

"Calm down, Shinn!" Kika exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders and breaking him out of his angry tirade. "Maybe I can't understand, but at least I can try! That's worth something, isn't it?"

Shinn fell silent, staring at her, not understanding.

"Newtypes are supposed to be people who understand everyone, right?" she said. "Well, I don't understand everyone. I don't quite understand you, either. But at least I can try. Most people don't even try to do that."

Shinn looked away angrily. "But you can't," he protested. "You never will. The only people who would understand would just tell me that I'm special, so I have to keep fighting and suffering."

"They what?" Kika exclaimed. She pulled Shinn closer, staring intensely into his eyes. "Who?"

"Wha—" Shinn sputtered.

"Who would be so cruel as to tell you that you _have_ to suffer?" she asked insistently.

Shinn blinked in surprise. "My friend," he answered resignedly, "my friend and the Chairman."

Kika let Shinn pull away, but still did not let go of him. "Why would they tell you that?" she asked. "The Chairman of the PLANTs, of all people?"

Shinn looked away angrily. "They said I was a Newtype," he snarled. "They wanted me to fight. They wanted me to build some new world or something for them."

"And that's why you don't like people calling you special?" Kika asked. "That's why you don't like people praising you for what you do?"

Shinn looked back at her. "Would you?"

Kika smiled. "Not if it meant going and being miserable for it," she said. "Nobody should be told that they _have_ to suffer." She let go of him with a sigh. "You're too freaking emo. Stella's gonna have to fix that."

Shinn glanced at her, quirking an eyebrow, but she only laughed.

"Come on," she said, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him forward. "Let's not keep the Captain waiting too long."

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Stella?"

Stella looked up in surprise at the sound of her name, and blinked confusedly at Miki as she stood in the doorway, looking meek.

"That's your name, isn't it?" Miki asked. Stella nodded slowly, and Miki awkwardly stepped into the room. "Um, hi...I'm Miki." She stuck her hand forward for a handshake; Stella stared blankly at it, and Miki scratched her head just as awkwardly with her other hand. "Um...it's a handshake...y'know, you shake my hand."

Stella stared at Miki hand for a moment, and then slowly raised her own, and Miki uneasily shook it.

"Um," Miki began again, letting Stella's hand fall. "So...uh...where'd you meet Shinn?"

Stella paused for a moment. "...Shinn..." she murmured. Miki nodded slowly. "...Stella met Shinn...at the sea," she added.

"At the sea?" Miki asked. Stella nodded. "I've never been to the sea, what's it like?"

"...Miki should go to the sea," Stella said slowly. "It's big and blue and pretty...Stella likes the sea."

"I only saw the sea on the PLANTs," Miki said, looking away awkwardly. "I've never been to Earth."

"...the PLANTs are scary," Stella said. Miki glanced back at Stella in surprise.

"Huh? Why?" she asked. Stella blinked for a moment.

"They're big and scary," Stella said, "and they have lots of scary things inside them."

Miki smiled and laughed. "I guess so," she agreed. "At least on Earth there's the sea and all those nice places."

"Stella didn't see the sea in the PLANTs," Stella said forlornly. "How come the sea wasn't in the PLANTs?"

Miki shrugged. "The PLANTs are like a fake Earth," she said. "They try to copy all the real things on Earth, but they don't quite make it."

Stella stared at Miki for a moment. "...why is Miki here?" she asked. Miki blinked again.

"Uh, well," she began, "the captain rescued me on a colony, after my family had—" She stopped herself, clapping a hand over her mouth, and looked quickly at Stella. Stella stared at her as blankly as ever, and Miki let out a long sigh of relief. She paused and looked back at Stella. "Why are you so scared of that word?" she asked.

Stella was silent a moment. "...because it's scary," she said.

Miki smiled. "Yeah, it is."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Now that he wasn't here at gunpoint, Shinn could get a better grip on his surroundings as he walked onto the _Kasselheim_'s bridge. The room was in the shape of a quarter of a sphere, with half the room dominated by a raised dais; the captain's chair was on a column in the middle of the room, and there were three stations on the floor in front of the captain's chair, with a fourth to the captain's chair's left, at the back of the room, next to the door. The enormous windows granted the bridge crew a panoramic view of space.

Mev Typhoon had his back turned to the bridge doors as they opened and Shinn stepped in with Kika.

"Here he is, captain," Kika said, stepping aside as Mev's chair swiveled around.

Shinn stared guardedly at the mountain of a man, with short brown hair, a thick jaw, grizzled face hidden behind sunglasses, and a thick brown overcoat. He crossed his arms, staring at Shinn emotionlessly for a moment.

"Your old ZAFT comrades are looking for you," he said in a rumbling voice.

"I know," Shinn said quickly. Mev regarded him impassively for a moment.

"You're bringing us a lot of trouble," Mev said. He turned and looked out the bridge windows, into space. "I am a man of my word, Mr. Asuka, and will safely deliver you to L1 as promised. However, I am not so embroiled in honor as to destroy myself to keep my promise. Surely you understand."

"What do you mean?" Shinn said suspiciously, tensing for a fight.

Mev turned around to face Shinn again. "The _Minerva_ is after you," he said. "It is accompanied by two _Nazca_-class destroyers. Both such ships are faster than the _Kasselheim_—should they discover that you are aboard this ship, it is likely that they will be upon us before we reach L1."

"Then can't you go in a straight path or something?" Shinn asked. "Get there as fast as possible?"

"It's not that simple," Mev responded. "We do not want ZAFT to attack us after you leave, either. We fear that they may as part of some investigation into your actions."

Shinn looked away angrily; yet more people had been swept up in his own affairs.

"Should you decline the offer I am about to make," Mev continued, "we will take you to L1 and let you go, no questions asked, in return, of course, for your word not to implicate us should ZAFT catch up to you. We may only have your word, but it will be better than nothing."

"Alright," Shinn said guardedly; he had no reason to rat them out anyways.

"My offer," Mev said, "is that you join us."

The occupants of the bridge gasped, Shinn included; after a moment, Shinn glared, clenching his fists.

"Why?" he demanded.

"That is a question you are better off asking yourself," Mev said cryptically.

Shinn glowered at Mev. "You're the one making the offer," he said. "You tell me why."

Mev turned. "That would be cheating you of your character," he answered. "We have another day until we reach L1. Think on it."

Shinn scowled and stalked out of the bridge.

At Mev's side, Viima watched Shinn go in confusion, and then turned to face Mev.

"Captain," she said, "why did you offer to have him join us?"

Mev returned to his seat. "Shinn Asuka is one of those unlucky, extraordinary few who are destined to have the sorrows of the world on their shoulders," he said. "Every one of his ancestors had friends behind them, to support them and join them in battle and give them a roof above their heads and floor beneath their feet. He must be no different." He paused. "No such child should be made to bear this burden alone."

——————————————————————————————————————————

"You're Shinn Asuka, aren't you?"

Shinn turned in exasperation at the sound of a woman speaking his name; he spun around, and was greeted with the image of a blonde woman with green eyes, decked out in a red overcoat and black pants. She crossed her arms and arched a thin eyebrow at him.

"You looked taller on TV," she said after a moment. Shinn blinked in surprise, wondering what he was supposed to say that. "At any rate," she said, "I'm Gan. Gan Zuul." She stuck her hand out; Shinn hesitantly shook it. "Normally I'd slap you for trashing my GINN, but if I had to get my ass kicked, at least it was by a good pilot."

"Wha—" Shinn sputtered. "I what?"

Gan arched an eyebrow again, this time in annoyance. "What, you don't remember tearing up a GINN Assault on Boomtown III?"

Shinn suddenly felt very sheepish. "Oh, um, yeah," he said awkwardly. "Uh…sorry." Gan shook her head and smirked.

"Well at least they were able to fix it," she said. Suddenly she thrust her face into Shinn's, pointing vindictively at him. "_But don't do it again, you fucker!_" Shinn leapt backward in surprise.

"Gan," a male voice said tonelessly, "what are you doing to Shinn?"

Shinn turned towards his potential savior and found a man in a green ZAFT ground uniform, with long red hair and an earring on his left ear. He put one hand on his hip and looked at Gan.

"Hey, he trashed my GINN," Gan complained.

"And he trashed my Dagger," the man said. "That sort of thing happens on the battlefield." He looked over at Shinn. "Apologies, Mr. Asuka. Gan prides her mobile suit too much."

"I do not!" Gan exclaimed.

"My name is Chris Machonheiler," the man said, extending his hand; once again, Shinn found himself in an awkward handshake. "Pilot of the 105 Dagger you dismembered."

"Um, sorry?" Shinn sputtered.

"Gan, let's go," Chris said, looking at Gan and nodding off in another direction. Gan sighed and cast one final glare at Shinn.

"Just you remember," she said warningly. "Leave my GINN alone!"

They disappeared around a corner; Shinn blinked in disbelief and shook his head.

He leaned against the wall, feeling desolate and lost. These were _pirates_? Bloodthirsty, greedy, vicious _pirates?_ Outlaws and castoffs from society? Overall, they had been more friendly to him than anyone on the _Minerva _had ever been, at least after he had helped wipe out that Alliance patrol group. And they were _pirates?_

His thoughts turned towards L1, and the new life he would live there. He would be on his own with Stella...but there was the catch. He would be on his own. Granted, he would be with Stella, but still...he would be on his own.

He glanced at the bridge doors, heaved a sigh, and trudged back towards his room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 11th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, approaching Lagrange Point 1**

"Finally," Ruumari said excitedly as he climbed into his flight suit in the _Minerva_'s locker room. "We finally get to take on that damned traitor Asuka!"

"Eh, let's not overdo it," Aoma advised aloofly as she strapped on her helmet. "After all, they say—"

"Both of you, don't be overconfident," Shiho cut in brusquely. Ruumari and Aoma both looked at her in surprise as she closed the neck seals of her helmet. "Shinn is a powerful opponent. Neither of you realize what you're up against."

"We'll take him down!" Ruumari vowed, clenching his free fist. "We'll show you what we can do!"

Lunamaria watched them, closing her locker with a sigh, and looked over at Rey. "What should we do about Shinn when we meet him?" she asked awkwardly.

Rey slammed his locker shut, glowering, and pulled his helmet on abruptly. He closed the neck seals and looked at Luna; she felt a chill run down her spine at the sight of his blazing blue eyes.

"We will do our duty."

Rey stalked off into the hangar, his thoughts as smoldering as his eyes.

_Shinn...your crime will be punished!_

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	20. Phase 20: The Traitor Asuka

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

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Phase 20 - The Traitor Asuka

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**November 11th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, near Lagrange Point 1**

"They've found us!"

All eyes on the bridge of the _Kasselheim _turned towards Mike Martinez as he stared in apprehension at his displays.

"Two _Nazca_-class and the _Minerva!_" he exclaimed. "Captain! They're closing in!"

Mev Typhoon narrowed his eyes at the panorama of stars before him. "Turn the ship around and prepare for combat," he ordered; the bridge crew gasped in disbelief.

"Captain!" Yun protested from the weapons console. "We can't fight three enemy ships on our own! We—"

"We will," Mev interrupted, "or we will die trying. All mobile suits, prepare to launch!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_**

"I see a GINN Assault, a GINN High-Maneuver II, a GuAIZ, a CGUE...and a 105 Dagger," Arthur said, studying the magnified screen. He looked up at Talia. "The Impulse and Gaia did not launch."

Talia nodded grimly. "Shield the bridge," she ordered. "All hands, Condition Red! Prepare for anti-mobile suit and anti-ship combat!"

In the hangar, the two fully assembled Sword and Blast Impulses stood at either end of the hangar, next to the catapults. Inside the Blast Impulse, Ruumari signaled a thumbs-up.

"Aoma," he said excitedly, "let's show them what we're made of."

"Just don't push it," Aoma warned. The Blast Impulse stepped onto the catapult; the lights flashed on.

Ruumari grinned. "I won't disappoint!" he said. "Ruumari Star, Blast Impulse, _launching!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Near Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_**

Inside his CGUE, George Morrison cracked his knuckles and prepared for battle. Up ahead, he could see GuAIZ Rs and ZAKUs launching; from the _Minerva_, he saw three Gundam-type mobile suits and two more ZAKUs. Against ZAFT's latest mobile suits, he prayed his skills and his tried-and-true CGUE would be up to the task.

"Hey Chris," Miki said with evident worry in her voice, "are you sure we can do this?"

"There's only one way to find out," Chris said with finality from his 105 Dagger. "All mobile suits, follow me!"

On the _Kasselheim_, Shinn stood on the ship's observation deck, watching the impending battle with wide, horrified eyes. Stella was at his side, clenching her hands worriedly, but she said nothing.

"They're going to fight," Shinn murmured, "because of us."

"Shinn," Stella began worriedly.

"They can't," Shinn whispered.

On the battlefield, inside the Savior, Shiho scanned the enemy's thin ranks and found no sign of the Impulse or Gaia. She sighed to herself; either they weren't here or they weren't launching, and either way, their job would be made more difficult.

"All mobile suits," she said, "attack and destroy the pirate mobile suits, and then focus your firepower on the pirate ship! Find the two Gundams!"

The ZAFT mobile suits charged and opened fire; the pirate mobile suits scattered and took cover behind their shields.

Inside the ZAKU, Rey scowled ferociously. He could feel Shinn's presence aboard the enemy ship; he was determined to draw it out, and finish Shinn off once and for all. He took aim at the CGUE and opened fire; it darted out of harm's way with surprising speed and fired back with a beam rifle. Rey ducked beneath its shots and launched a flurry of missiles, but the CGUE used its Vulcan shield to cut them down.

"You are standing in my way," Rey growled, firing back with his beam rifle and clenching his teeth in frustration as the CGUE pulled back behind its shield. "You will not deny me my revenge!"

The ZAKU drew its beam tomahawk; down below, the CGUE drew a heavy laser sword, and the two mobile suits came together with a crash.

"You will not deny me my revenge!" Rey shouted again; he kicked the CGUE in the chest, knocking it back, and fired another storm of missiles, but once again the CGUE cut them down and pulled back with a hail of beam rifle fire.

On the _Kasselheim_'s bridge, Mev eyed the _Nazca_ on the _Minerva_'s starboard wing. "Yun, aim for that _Nazca_ on the left," he instructed. "Mike, I'll leave evasive maneuvers to you." He watched as the _Kasselheim _slowly pulled out of the way of a storm of beam fire, and a spray of CIWS fire cut down a wave of incoming missiles. "Yun, fire the Gottfrieds!"

The Gottfrieds blazed, but the _Nazca_ banked to the side, and the blasts only grazed its port hull. Yun gasped in disbelief.

"They're so fast!" Mike exclaimed. "Captain!"

"Stay focused!" Mev shouted. "Valiants, Gottfrieds, missiles, prepare for another round! Mike, bring us higher!"

Inside the Blast Impulse, Ruumari narrowed his eyes at the pirates. They were just small change; what he wanted was the Impulse, and Shinn. Up above was a 105 Dagger; Ruumari opened fire with his beam rifle, but the Dagger twisted out of harm's way and fired back. The Blast Impulse took the shots to its shield and fired back with its CIWS, but once again the Dagger evaded his attack and fired back with its beam rifle.

"Pirate bastards!" Ruumari shouted. "Get out of my way so I can fight the real villain!"

The Dagger began to pull back; Ruumari took off after it with a scream.

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**Office of the Supreme Chairman of the PLANTs, Aprilius 1, PLANT, Lagrange Point 5**

Gilbert Dullindal looked up from his chessboard to find a tall, imposing figure entering his office.

"Defense Chairman Vandemant," he began cordially. "I was wondering where you were."

Filling the doorway was the massive Horatio Vandemant, the newly elected Chairman of the National Defense Council. He filled out an enormous purple ZAFT uniform, well ornamented with golden marking. His grizzled, scarred face bore a gray plate over the left eye; he stared steadily ahead with his remaining black, tiny eye. He saluted with a white-gloved hand.

"Good morning, Chairman," he said. "My apologies; my business kept me longer than I had anticipated."

Gilbert smirked. "Of course it did," he said with a chuckle. "What brings you here, then?"

Horatio stepped forward. "The _Minerva_ has engaged a pirate group it suspects is harboring Shinn Asuka and the -X56S Impulse," Horatio explained. Gilbert quirked an inquisitive eyebrow. "They will report back to you when they have progress to report."

"Will they," Gilbert said, sliding into thought. "Excellent, Horatio. You are dismissed, but don't go too far away; I yet have more orders for you."

"Yes sir," Horatio answered, duly saluting and excusing himself.

Gilbert smiled as the door shut.

"Well, Shinn," he said, "you're back in my grasp already...and all I have to do is close my fingers."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser **_**Kasselheim**_**, near Lagrange Point 1**

Shinn wanted to scream as he watched the battle. The _Kasselheim_'s guns boomed; a flurry of railgun shots slammed head-on into the _Nazca_ on the _Minerva_'s starboard side, punching through the ship's hull and blowing out chunks of the ship's innards. The stricken _Nazca_ began to list; the _Kasselheim_ fired a volley of Gottfried blasts, finishing the _Nazca_ off, but even as it exploded, the _Minerva_ and the remaining _Nazca_ intensified their fire. The _Kasselheim_ banked away from the blasts desperately, shooting down the ZAFT ships' missiles with a storm of CIWS fire, but the ZAFT ships kept up their beam cannon barrages. Up ahead, Shinn could see the tiny forms of mobile suits approaching the ship.

"They'll lose at this rate," Shinn said grimly. He looked at Stella; she was staring at him, tears brimming in her eyes. "What do you want to do, Stella?"

Stella stared at him for a moment. "...we should go..." She trailed off; Shinn looked into her wide, frightened eyes for a moment, and then looked up at the battlefield.

He had to; he had to take the opportunity now, while it was still fresh.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand.

They ran off towards the hangar.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Miki screamed as the Sword Impulse slammed both its anti-ship swords down onto her GINN High-Maneuver II's shield. The GINN went staggering back; Miki desperately fired back with her beam carbine, but the Sword Impulse deflected her shots with its shield and took off towards her, hurling a beam boomerang at her. The GINN dove over the boomerang and took off backwards; the Sword Impulse fired after her with its CIWS.

"The _Kasselheim!_" Zora cried. "It's under attack!"

Miki cast a quick glance over her shoulder; the _Kasselheim_ was struggling to dodge attacks from the two ZAFT ships, while its CIWS guns blazed to fend off the ZAFT mobile suits, but some of them had already managed to score some hits on the ship.

"Dammit! We can't hold out here forever!" Chris grunted; the 105 Dagger ducked beneath a weapons burst from the Blast Impulse and fired back. Miki dodged a sword stroke from the Sword Impulse and fired back, retreating towards the _Kasselheim_.

A blaze of beam fire rose up behind Miki's GINN HM II; she squeaked in fright and slammed on the brakes as a GuAIZ R and a Blaze ZAKU Warrior stopped her retreat with their beam rifles. She swung around to face them, but the Sword Impulse rose up behind her instead, beam rifle drawn. Miki screamed for help—

A beam blast sliced through the Sword Impulse's rifle, wiping it out. The GuAIZ R and ZAKU turned in disbelief; a moment later, beam shots wiped them out as well. The Sword Impulse drew its anti-ship swords, but a moment later it found itself dodging more beam fire.

Miki gasped for breath, and stared in disbelief as two more mobile suits swept down out of the black sky.

The eyes of Shinn Asuka flashed inside the cockpit of the Force Impulse Gundam.

"You won't take them down without going through me!" Shinn shouted. "Come on, _Minerva!_ I'm waiting for you!" The Impulse and the Gaia charged up towards the battle. "Stella!" Shinn exclaimed. "Protect the _Kasselheim!_ I have a score to settle!"

"Okay!" Stella exclaimed, veering off to attack the ZAFT mobile suits around the _Kasselheim_. Shinn turned his eyes on the two ZAFT ships and ignited the booster.

A GuAIZ R charged at Shinn, beam rifle blazing; Shinn dove beneath its shots and speared it on a beam rifle shot. A moment later a green Gunner ZAKU Warrior leveled off for a finishing beam cannon shot, only to be taken down by another rifle shot from the Force Impulse. Shinn charged towards the _Minerva_ with a scream.

Across the battlefield, Rey turned at Shinn's familiar pressure; he scowled and took off towards the Impulse.

Shinn turned in surprise as Rey's ZAKU descended on him with a beam rifle blast; he jetted to the side, deflecting Rey's shots with his shield. He glared at the ZAKU as it stormed towards him.

"You too, Rey," he snarled. "You won't stop chasing me until you can take me down, will you?!"

The ZAKU drew its beam tomahawk; Shinn switched to his beam saber, and the two mobile suits came together with a crash. Rey snarled a curse under his breath as the mobile suits strained against each other.

"You betrayed me, Shinn!" he snapped. "I gave you my dream for the future and you destroyed it!"

Shinn blinked disbelievingly. "I _what?!_"

Rey's face was twisted in fury. "I won't forgive you, Shinn!" he shouted. "I'll punish you for what you've done!"

The ZAKU surged forward with its engines; Shinn grunted as he was thrust backward into his seat.

"You betrayed us all!" Rey screamed. "I won't let you get away!"

Shinn's eyes flashed. "I did what was right!" he cried. "I don't regret it! Now get _OUT OF MY WAY!_"

The Impulse knocked the ZAKU back with a punishing roundhouse kick to the face, and Shinn took off over the reeling ZAKU's head, glancing up towards the _Minerva_. A wave of beam blasts streaked through his path; Shinn slammed on the brakes and pulled back, switching to his beam rifle and scanning the skies for the next attacker.

Up above, Shinn could see the Blast Impulse storming towards him. Inside the Blast Impulse, Ruumari narrowed his eyes at the Force Impulse.

"There you are, you traitor!" he snarled. "You finally stopped hiding!"

Shinn turned his beam rifle towards the Blast Impulse, but another storm of beam shots flashed by him again, and he dove out of harm's way a second time. The Savior Gundam dropped in on him with a beam rifle blast.

"Dammit!" Shinn grunted. "You're all going to come after me, aren't you?!"

Rey's ZAKU stormed in from behind Shinn; he whipped around to block its tomahawk stroke with his shield.

"You were going to be the one to build the future!" Rey yelled. "You were going to save us all!"

Shinn's alarms blared insistently; he saw Luna's ZAKU level off its beam cannon at the Force Impulse's head, while the Blast Impulse and the Savior lined up for more finishing shots. And up above, the Sword Impulse was careening down towards him, swords upraised.

Shinn's eyes flashed—he wouldn't be beaten here. He saw the seed explode before his eyes—

Inside his ZAKU, Rey blinked in surprise as Shinn's pressure changed. An instant later, the ZAKU was sent spiraling back as the Force Impulse kicked off of the ZAKU's chest, dodging the Sword Impulse's slashes. Shinn twisted out of the way of the beam cannon blasts as Luna's ZAKU, the Savior, and the Blast Impulse opened fire.

"Hold still!" Ruumari screamed, boosting forward and firing another blaze of beam fire at the Force Impulse. "You goddamned traitor!"

"_Kasselheim!_" Shinn shouted. "Send me a heavy weapon!" He ducked aside as Luna's ZAKU fired another beam cannon burst.

"Stop resisting, Shinn!" Luna screamed, as her ZAKU pursued. "Surrender!"

"Don't give him any chances!" Ruumari shrieked, charging in front of Luna's ZAKU and firing another weapons burst. "We will kill him today, and rectify all his crimes!"

"Ruumari!" Aoma shouted; the Sword Impulse hurled both its beam boomerangs at the Force Impulse, as it dodged the weapons fire from the other mobile suits. "Don't be stupid!"

"_BASTARDS!_" Shinn screamed; the Force Impulse jetted up above the Blast Impulse, kicking it in the face and forcing it back. He dove backwards, cutting down a missile burst from Rey's ZAKU with his CIWS, and glanced to his right. He clipped the Force Impulse's beam rifle to its rear armor and extended the Impulse's right hand; a heavy particle cannon from the _Kasselheim_ landed in his open hand and he fired at the Blast Impulse as it wheeled around. "Go to hell!"

The thick beam blast smashed off the Blast Impulse's right arm and leg, wiping out the Blast Silhouette; Ruumari screamed as the Impulse shook violently under the blow.

"Ruumari!" Aoma shouted; the Sword Impulse charged at the Force Impulse, and Shinn glowered at the incoming red mobile suit. He somersaulted over its head and used the particle cannon to blow off the Sword Silhouette, and then turned his attention to the maimed Blast Impulse. "Ruumari, pull back!" Aoma shouted. "You can't fight him anymore!"

"Yes I can!" Ruumari shrieked; the dismembered Blast Impulse charged with an anti-armor knife in its left hand.

"Don't make me laugh!" Shinn cried, raising the particle cannon to finish the Blast Impulse off. The Sword Impulse dove into the way of his shot; the blast seared off the Sword Impulse's left arm, wiping out both its anti-ship swords, and blew off the Blast Impulse's remaining arm. The Sword Impulse seized the Blast Impulse with its right hand and took off towards the _Minerva_—Shinn took aim to finish them both off in one shot, but a storm of beam shots from the Savior and Luna's ZAKU stopped him.

"_Why did you betray us?!_" Luna screamed, as the ZAKU fired at Shinn with its beam cannon. Shinn ducked beneath its shots and fired back with his particle cannon, scowling. "How could you betray us for that Extended girl?! _ANSWER ME, SHINN!_"

Rey's ZAKU dropped in, tomahawk raised; Shinn hurled the particle cannon at him as he brought the tomahawk down, and Rey grunted as the weapon exploded in his ZAKU's face, throwing him back again. Shinn drew his beam rifle and fired up at the Savior as it stormed towards him.

The Savior drew its saber; Shinn deflected its blow with his shield and drew his own saber, swinging back, and the two Gundams were stuck pushing against each other.

"You betrayed your people, Shinn!" Shiho yelled. "We will finish you off today!"

Shinn grunted as the Savior pushed towards him; he jetted backwards and rocketed up above the Savior's beam cannon blasts, but Rey's ZAKU was instantly upon him, and the two mobile suits slammed together in a shower of sparks.

"You have made yourself an obstacle to Gil's new world!" Rey snarled. "You cannot be allowed to exist any longer, Shinn!"

Rey's ZAKU kicked the Impulse in the stomach and hurled a beam tomahawk at him; Shinn's eyes flashed and it he cut it in half. As the weapon exploded, he pulled back and stormed towards the _Nazca_ destroyer on the _Minerva_'s port wing.

"You left us behind for a bunch of pirates!" Shiho screamed; the Savior rocketed up over the smoke and fired its beam cannons at the Impulse. "Is this what you think we're worth, Shinn?! _IS IT?!_"

Shinn ducked beneath the Savior's shots and fired back; Rey's ZAKU stormed up towards him, showering him with missiles.

"No Newtype who betrayed his own kind has been allowed to live!" he shouted as the missiles swarmed towards the Impulse. "You will be no different!"

Shinn cut the missiles down with a CIWS burst and took off towards the _Nazca_ under the cover of the smoke.

"They're all out to kill me," Shinn snarled, "but I won't let them!"

The _Nazca_ and the _Minerva_ opened fire; Shinn dove beneath their shots and continued on towards the _Nazca_. If he could cause enough damage to the ships, perhaps that would force them to withdraw.

Luna's ZAKU lined up for a beam cannon blast as he approached; Shinn dove out of the blast's path and fired at the ZAKU before it could attack again. As Luna pulled back behind her shield, Rey's ZAKU came storming in again; Shinn deflected its tomahawk strike with his shield and pulled back with a hail of CIWS fire.

"You can't run forever, Shinn!" Shiho screamed; the Savior came down with a beam saber swipe, and Shinn switched to his own saber as he dodged. The Savior and the Impulse met with a crash, slamming their sabers against each other. "You can't hide! We'll find you wherever you go!"  
A beam cannon blast from Luna's ZAKU parted the two Gundams; Luna's ZAKU charged forward, wielding its beam cannon.

"Stop fighting us, Shinn!" she screamed. "Stop doing this to us!"

Luna's ZAKU drew a beam tomahawk and hurled it at the Impulse; Shinn's eyes flashed, and a white bolt of energy cracked the air in front of him. The Impulse's left hand lunged out, seizing the tomahawk by the handle as it spun towards him; he twisted it around in his hand and hurled it at the Savior, slicing its beam rifle in two before it could fire.

"What the—?!" Shiho began; she was cut short as the Impulse charged at her, and she barely managed to block its saber stroke with her shield. The Impulse kicked the Savior in the face, sending it staggering back; Shinn rocketed up over the Savior's head, drawing his beam rifle, and dodged another beam cannon blast from Luna's ZAKU. He swung his rifle up and fired; his shot drilled through the ZAKU's left arm at the shoulder, blowing it off with a violent explosion. Luna grunted in pain as she was thrown into the cockpit panels, and stared up in disbelief as the Impulse approached. She raised the beam cannon to fire one more time, but the Impulse lopped it off with a beam saber stroke; Luna stared disbelievingly as the Impulse kicked her maimed ZAKU away.

Shinn spun around and his beam saber blocked a tomahawk slice from Rey's ZAKU.

"Why are you still fighting us?!" Rey shouted. "Accept your fate!"

"Dammit Rey!" Shinn shouted back. "Of all the people to not understand me!"

"I will not forgive you, Shinn!" Rey screamed; the ZAKU surged forward with a blast of exhaust from the Blaze Wizard pack. "_I WILL NOT FORGIVE YOU!_"

Shinn clenched his teeth as the ZAKU forced him backward. "You wanted me to be some little Newtype super-soldier!" he shouted back. "You wanted me to fight and fight and fight until you had your world full of Newtypes, or whatever the hell Dullindal wants! And you were going to use me to get it!"

The Impulse kicked the ZAKU in the face, sending it stumbling back. Before Rey could react, he cut the ZAKU's right arm off at the elbow, and then decapitated it in one swift blow.

"Shinn!" Rey cried. "Stop this!"

The Impulse kicked Rey's ZAKU in the chest, forcing it away.

"_SHINN!_" Shiho screamed; the Savior rocketed up towards him with a beam cannon burst, and Shinn twisted out of the way and took off towards the _Nazca_. "Stop running, Shinn!" The Savior switched to its mobile armor mode and gave chase; Shinn cursed under his breath and whipped around, beam saber drawn, but the Savior reverted back to its mobile suit mode and deflected his saber stroke with its own saber.

"Dammit," Shinn grunted, as the Savior pushed the Impulse backwards.

"I'll kill you myself if I have to!" Shiho shouted. The Savior kicked the Impulse in the stomach, sending it staggering back; Shiho charged forward, beam saber drawn back—

Stella's scream cut through the Impulse's cockpit as the Gaia Gundam slammed headlong into the Savior, knocking it wide. Shiho blinked in disbelief, turning her eyes on the Gaia, just in time for it to kick the Savior in the face and force it back.

"Stella!" Shinn exclaimed. "What about the—"

"Stop worrying about us!" George's voice shouted; his CGUE shot up out of nowhere to shower the Savior with Vulcan fire. Shiho snarled a curse under her breath and fired back at the CGUE with her beam cannons, but it darted to the side with surprising speed and fired back with a beam rifle.

"What the hell is this?!" Shiho snapped. "It's just a CGUE!"

The Savior's instruments beeped as Shiho pulled back; she glared over her shoulder and found the _Minerva_ and the _Nazca_ firing signal flares.

"That's the retreat signal!" Shinn exclaimed. He turned his gaze towards the Savior; it paused a moment before it deactivated its beam saber and took off towards the _Minerva_.

Shinn let out a sigh of relief and sank back into his seat; George's CGUE drifted down next to him.

"You have our thanks for assisting us," George said; the CGUE clipped its beam rifle to its rear skirt armor and extended its hand cordially. Shinn blinked at it; a moment later, the Impulse shook the CGUE's hand awkwardly. "I suppose this will deter the _Minerva_ for the time being. At least until we reach L1."

Shinn glanced awkwardly at the Gaia. "Um, about that..." he began. George cocked an eyebrow inquisitively. "...ah, well, never mind," he said quickly. "I'll...talk about it alter."

Chris's 105 Dagger approached slowly. "We'd best not linger around here," he warned. "They're pulling back for now, but we haven't seen the last of them."

"Agreed," George said. "Come with us, Shinn. We've got a joyride to complete."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_**

"_GODDAMMIT!_"

The volume of Ruumari's enraged voice was matched only by the sound of his fist slamming against the door of his locker.

"Ruumari, calm down!" Aoma exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders and trying to pull him away from the locker before he did anymore damage. "It was just one battle! Let it go!"

"No!" Ruumari shouted, spinning around to face Aoma, fire dancing in his eyes. "It's not just one battle! That traitor got away! That _goddamned traitor_ got away!"

"It's not worth killing yourself over!" Aoma protested. "You're being too reckless!"

"Oh, go to hell!" Ruumari snapped. "I don't know what _you_ came here for, but _I_ came here to send that fucking traitor to hell myself!"

"I came here because I was ordered to!" Aoma said defensively, taking a step back. "I'm doing my duty, exactly as a ZAFT soldier should, exactly what they told us at the Academy! I'm not on some crusade to bring down Shinn Asuka! I'm following the orders I get from Commander Hahnenfuss—"

"Bullshit!" Ruumari snarled. "I don't care what you're here for! I'm here to bring down the traitor Asuka! And I'll do it! I've spent too long sitting on Maius 5 on fucking _guard duty_ to fail now!" He grabbed Aoma by the shoulders furiously. "We're ZAFT Reds! _Guard duty_, Aoma! They put us on _GUARD DUTY!_"

"Those were our orders!" Aoma protested. "Do you think you know better than our superiors? When we joined ZAFT we agreed to follow our orders, no matter what we thought of the superiors issuing them!"

"I don't care what my superiors think!" Ruumari exclaimed. "I finally have a chance to _do something!_ For this entire war we've been sitting on Maius 5, wishing that we could be fighting out there and defending our homeland, instead of sitting deep inside it guarding a fucking _warehouse!_"

"It wasn't just a warehouse!" Aoma began. "They were keeping the -X2000 parts—"

"Yeah, and look where the -X2000 parts are _now!_" Ruumari yelled. "You were there too! They gave us a couple of busted-up GINNs that should've been decommissioned and stuck us out in the middle of the PLANT to guard a warehouse that _NO ONE _was ever going to get into, whether we were there to stop them or not! We were grunts, Aoma! We worked hard, you remember it, we worked hard and put up with all those jackass instructors and all those assholes in our classes, and we survived and graduated in the top of our class! We're ZAFT fucking Reds! And they turned us into _GRUNTS!_"

"Ruumari—" Aoma began haltingly.

"_TO HELL WITH THIS!_" Ruumari screamed, letting Aoma go and storming towards the door. "I'll tear that bastard apart with my _TEETH_ if I have to!"

As Ruumari raged out of the room, Aoma sighed and rubbed her temples irritably.

"Screaming and hitting things," Shiho's voice sighed from somewhere off to the side. "It's like Shinn never left."

Aoma straightened up in surprise and saluted awkwardly. "C-Commander!" she exclaimed. "I, uh, I apologize—"

"It's nothing we're not used to," Lunamaria's voice added tiredly, as she drifted into the room and rubbed her neck wearily.

"You're going to have to be the one responsible for keeping him under control," Shiho put in. "I could never keep Shinn under control. I'm not going to try to do the same to Ruumari."

"I understand, commander," Aoma said, looking at the floor.

"Did they _really_ have you on grunt work at Maius 5?" Luna asked as she stuffed her flight suit back in her locker. "What a lousy way to treat a Red. They put me on a brand new battleship fresh out of the Academy."

"Just try to keep him under control," Shiho said wearily, opening her own locker and shoving her helmet back inside.

Aoma looked awkwardly at the ground. "Yes ma'am."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, approaching Lagrange Point 1**

Mev Typhoon stared impassively at Shinn and Stella, standing on the bridge in front of him, for a moment.

"You want to join us," he said. He paused for a moment. "What led you to this conclusion, then?"

Shinn stared back at Mev uncomfortably.

"We want a home," Shinn said quietly.

Kika blinked in surprise at her station on the bridge, but before she could speak, he looked to the floor awkwardly.

"Ever since I lost my family, I haven't had anywhere to call home," he said uneasily. "And Stella's always been at the whims of the Alliance."

"We're not an orphanage," Viima spoke up harshly. "We do hard work, and you would be expected to earn your keep."

Mev held up a hand to silence her. "That, of course, goes without saying," he said. "As you know, we are space pirates. We make our living off the backs of others. We do mercenary work for others when they pay us well enough. Are you willing to lead such a life, in return for a roof above your head and floor beneath your feet?"

Shinn nodded gravely. Mev stared at him a moment, and then extended his hand.

"Well then," he said, "welcome aboard."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	21. Phase 21: The Mercenary Way

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 21 - The Mercenary Way

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 12th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, New Haven Port, Lagrange Point 1**

"If you're going to fly with us," Kika said ebulliently, dragging Shinn down the hallways of the _Kasselheim_, "then you can't look like a coroner."

"What do you mean 'coroner'?" Shinn sputtered, looking down at his usual light gray clothes, and then looking back up in annoyance at Kika.

"You stand out too much," she explained with a smirk, glancing over her shoulder at him. "Gan and Miki are off trussing Stella up into a model of inconspicuousness. Now it's your turn."

Shinn glared at the wall in aggravation. "You can't make Stella look inconspicuous," he grumbled.

"But we can sure as hell try," Kika said, coming to a stop in front of someone's room. She keyed open the door and gave Shinn a healthy shove inside. "Now shut up and we can make this kinda painless."

"There's nothing wrong with my clothes!" Shinn protested. "They're fine al—" Kika cut him off by shoving him onto a bed and pulling his jacket off.

"I told you, you stand out too much," she said with a hint of exasperation. "We're all outlaws and we're all wanted, but you especially, Mr. Orb Marauder. Do you _want_ people to be able to recognize you?" She turned and delved into a closet nearby. "Anyways," she continued, her voice muffled by something, "this stuff should fit you more or less, so give it a try and don't be difficult."

Shinn sighed unhappily and rubbed his temples in irritation; he blinked in surprise as a black shirt drifted onto his head. Looking up, he found Kika standing in the closet doorway, hands on her hips in annoyance.

"Don't make me undress you myself," she warned. "I'll do it if you make me."

Shinn's eyes went wide and a blush spread across his face, but before he could sputter anything out, Kika tossed a pair of blue jeans and black boots and gloves at him as well, and a defeated Shinn slinked off to the bathroom to change.

When he emerged, Kika stared critically at his black t-shirt and blue jeans for a moment; Shinn squirmed uncomfortably under her scrutiny.

"What?" he finally asked. Kika was silent for another moment.

"Well, you look inconspicuous," Kika said slowly, still eyeing him thoughtfully. "But there's something wrong."

"What do you mean something wrong?" Shinn grumbled, looking down at himself. "It fits okay."

"That's not the problem," Kika said dismissively. She paused, and then giggled softly. "Besides, you'd look a lot better if you had some meat on your bones. Did they not feed you guys in ZAFT or what?" She paused and scrutinized him for another moment. "Oh well, I suppose it can't be helped. You look inconspicuous enough, I guess. Now come on," she said, "I wanna show Gan that I could turn a lost puppy into something that looks mildly badass."

Shinn groaned unhappily and resigned himself to fate as Kika pulled him out into the hall. "Why are you doing this to me?" he mumbled under his breath.

"Why am I doing this to you?" Kika echoed; Shinn blinked in surprise, not realizing that she had heard him. "I'm doing this to you so that you'll be safer. You won't stand out quite so easily this way, but you've still got a little touch to let people know not to screw with you." She paused. "Besides, you look good in black."

Shinn sighed in dismay again.

"Now then," Kika went on, "say hi to Stella."

Shinn turned around to look at Stella; his eyes went wide in disbelief once again. Instead of her billowy white dress, Stella had been decked out in a red tank top, black pants, and high black boots. She looked lost and confused as always, while Miki was looking extremely awkward and Gan seemed somehow proud of herself.

"She's not half-bad, hmm?" Gan asked suggestively, arching an eyebrow and smirking. Shinn blushed and looked away in exasperation; Kika laughed and shoved him towards Stella.

"Jesus, Shinn, how sheltered _are_ you?" she giggled.

"Um," Shinn began awkwardly, trying to ignore them, "how are you feeling, Stella?"

Stella looked down blankly at herself. "...weird..."

"Are you torturing Shinn already?" a voice asked; Shinn turned around and found George striding towards them all with a water bottle in hand. Kika laughed even harder as George came to a stop next to Shinn.

"It's just so easy!" she exclaimed. "It's like all those lame stereotypes about cute sheltered boys come to life!"

"I'm not that sheltered!" Shinn protested.

"We'll see," George said ominously. "You're coming with me into the colony. We've got some things to take care of."

The giggling ceased; Shinn looked nervously at Stella.

"She'll stay here," George said, before Shinn could ask. "Miki will look after her, and everyone else will protect her. But I've got things to show you; things you need to see now that you've signed on with us."

Shinn paused, put off by the foreboding in George's voice. "Like what?" he asked.

George looked at Shinn for a moment. "Shinn," he said ominously, "I'm going to introduce you to the real world."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Lagrange Point 1**

Lunamaria Hawke usually hated the gun training range. It was tedious and she was a terrible shot no matter how much practice she put in. She therefore made it a point to always bring Meyrin with her to the practice rounds, if for nothing else to have someone to talk to, since Rey was never one for conversation. As the firing range door opened, Luna glanced at Meyrin and wondered why she seemed to so downtrodden.

Rey was already in there, blasting away at the targets. Luna pointedly ignored him as she and Meyrin went to their stations.

"...why did Shinn betray us?" Meyrin asked suddenly. Luna blinked and looked over at her in surprise; Rey froze, his gun still raised at the target.

"Because he was weak," Rey snapped.

Luna spun around in surprise, looking at Rey. "He wasn't weak!" she exclaimed, as suddenly as Meyrin had spoken. "If he was weak he wouldn't have defied us all and taken Stella back to the Alliance!"

"He could not handle the trials of war," Rey said, his voice quiet and venomous. "Do not speak of that which you do not understand, Lunamaria."

"I understand damn well why he left!" Luna said angrily. "All that time he went on about Newtypes and all that dogma that people came up with about George Glenn's confession! And what did you ever do to help him, huh? Did you ever try to understand him? Did you ever try to convince him that it was wrong? Huh?"

Rey remained silent, looking back adamantly at the bullet-riddled target.

"Or were you the one filling his head with all that Newtype shit?" Luna went on, glowering at Rey. "I bet you were, weren't you? You always built a bubble around him! You did your damnedest to keep him away from the rest of us! And he couldn't take anymore of that Newtype dogma, and he snapped!"

Rey threw his gun aside angrily and stalked out of the practice range; Luna watched him go furiously, and Meyrin stood off to the side, meekly.

"...Luna, what are Newtypes?" Meyrin asked quietly. Luna glanced at her sadly and heaved a sigh.

"People say they're like psychics," she explained wearily. "They can see the future and read emotions and stuff. I guess they make really good mobile suit pilots too. But it's just a lot of rumors and bull."

Meyrin was silent, deep in thought. "...maybe it's real," she said.

Luna blinked in surprise.

"I mean, Shinn was a really good mobile suit pilot," Meyrin went on, "and sometimes it was like he could see the future." She paused. "And maybe being all sensitive to emotions is why he left. He didn't want to fight a war and be surrounded by suffering anymore."

Luna opened her mouth to admonish Meyrin for entertaining such crazy theories, but said nothing and instead sighed again.

"You miss him too?" she asked. Meyrin blinked in surprise and looked up, blushing. "I mean, sure he was anti-social and pissy all the time, but still..." She shrugged. "It's just kinda weird."

Meyrin looked awkwardly at the floor.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, near the Moon**

On one side of the bridge was Ian Lee, arms crossed adamantly. On the other was Neo Roanoke, hands on his hips in clear aggravation. Looking back and forth between them both was the overwhelmed-looking bridge crew.

"I don't see why _you're_ playing the protective daddy now," Neo said in irritation, shaking his head. "We have to do it. Their memories of Stella are too much of a liability."

"Our mission is to find and retrieve Stella and the Gaia," Lee answered. "How will they be able to effectively go about this mission if they have no idea what their target is?"

Neo's mouth twisted into the hint of a scowl. "Their emotional attachment to her will cloud their judgment and give them reservations," he said.

"When has their judgment ever been clear?" Lee shot back.

Neo stared ruefully at Lee for a moment. "Fine," he grunted, "I won't wipe their memories." He turned to leave. "I'll be in my quarters." With that he stalked out of the bridge.

Lee waited until the door closed before he turned to the rest of the bridge crew. "Lock the door to the maintenance pod room," he ordered.

"But sir—" one of the operators began.

"That's an order," Lee cut him off. The operator hesitatingly complied. Lee returned to his seat and slumped down tiredly into it. Protecting Sting and Auel from Neo's machinations, it seemed, was a full-time job.

There was the faint, muffled noise of what sounded like a fist smacking angrily against a wall. Lee suppressed his smile.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**New Haven, Lagrange Point 1**

Shinn wasn't sure how, but as he and George walked down the grimy, impoverished streets of the New Haven colony, he somehow felt endangered. He could sense an aura of despair and something frightening and _animal_ about this place that chilled him to the core.

"You look pale, Shinn," George observed. "New Haven isn't _that_ scary."

Shinn glanced around at the dilapidated buildings that reminded him of impoverished cities on Earth. The New Haven weather control computer, it was said, had long ago malfunctioned, and so the artificial sky was filled with dark clouds that seemed to be threatening rain.

"Where are we going?" Shinn asked nervously.

"To a bar," George said simply. "Get used to 'em. We spend lots of time in 'em."

Shinn mentally steeled himself.

"We have business to conduct anyways," George went on. "We raid military convoys for parts. We sell the parts to whoever will take them, like the Junk Guild."

"The Junk Guild?" Shinn echoed. "But I thought they didn't do business with outlaws."

"They like to pretend that the parts we sell them just magically materialize in their hands," George said. "Everyone knows it's a lie, but no one cares enough to do anything about it." He paused. "Take a right."

Shinn stared momentarily down a trash-filled alley with a dirty, vaguely humanoid form curled up next to a trash can. He steeled himself again and headed down the alley just behind George.

"...then what's our business here?" Shinn asked uneasily, almost fearing the answer.

"Our business is to find a fine gentleman who stiffed us on a load of mobile suit parts and negotiate with him a new payment that will be more equitable to all parties involved."

Shinn paused for a moment. "And that's why we're carrying between us four loaded Berettas?"

"Actions speak louder than words, Shinn," George said smoothly, "and a loaded gun in your face speaks louder than both."

They came to a stop in front of a fading door; George glanced at Shinn and then looked up at the faded, unreadable sign above the door.

"The Pigsty Bar and Nightclub," he said with mock theatrics. "'Never will you find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.'"

Shinn arched an inquisitive eyebrow. "Why are you quoting ancient movies?" he asked. George allowed himself a smirk.

"I always wanted a chance to say that," he replied. "Come on, Shinn. We have a new world to introduce you to."

George opened the door and ushered Shinn inside, and all hell promptly broke loose.

All at once, Shinn's senses came under brutal attack. The stench of alcohol invaded his nostrils; the flashing lights and twisting shapes around the dimly-lit room dizzied him; the cacophony of a synthesized beat and all sorts of shouts and conversations all going on at once tore into his ears; the entire room felt close, muggy, and overheated; even the air tasted foul and repugnant. Shinn bristled, a shiver running down his spine; George grabbed him by the arm and immediately pulled him into a darkened booth in the corner.

"It's busy today," he observed, looking around. "The owner must be celebrating another successful sexual conquest."

Shinn felt like retching, but settled only for a coughing fit. "What the hell _is _this place?" he managed to choke out.

"It's where people of the less morally uplifted constitution come to unwind," George said. He glanced to the side. "Keep a low profile in here. We don't want a fight."

"George!" a shrill female voice exclaimed. George glanced pointedly at Shinn and then turned to his right; a girl in a remarkably miniscule amount of clothing stumbled out of the crowd and immediately attached herself to George. "George! It's been so long! What are you doing back on New Haven?"

Shinn felt distinctly uncomfortable as George greeted her, and tried not to stare at the girl's body and how much of it was revealed in her clothing, or lack thereof.

"So," the girl went on, grinning suggestively at George, "are you here for business...or _pleasure?_"

"Business, I'm afraid," George answered with suavity Shinn had not known he had possessed, "though I suppose I could make time for some pleasure."

The girl cast her big somewhat-bloodshot eyes on Shinn and seemed to perk up. "And who's this?" She paused. "Hey, isn't he that Shinn A—" George clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Not so loud," he said quietly. The girl nodded as George took his hand away and turned back towards Shinn.

"What'd you bring him here for?" she asked. George glanced back at Shinn.

"Call it work experience," he said. "Shinn's along to help me conduct the aforementioned business."

The girl cast her seductive smile on Shinn; Shinn felt like all the blood in his body should have been rushing to one part, but it was getting too confused about which part to go to and so went nowhere. "So you wouldn't be opposed to letting me have him for an hour or two, would ya?" she asked, glancing suggestively at George.

"I'm going to need him later on," George said, "and besides, I think that's his call."

Shinn promptly tried to hide his face as all his blood decided to go there.

The girl arched an inquisitive eyebrow. "Oh, wait, lemme guess," she said with a sigh. "Super-sheltered PLANT boy, wouldn't know what it means if a girl were to stick her hands down his pants?"

"Orb boy," George corrected. "Don't rag on him too much, though. Like the rest of us, he just needs experience to break through the 'sheltered' part."

"Well, I can take care of _that_," the girl said, winking at Shinn. Shinn groaned and buried his bright-red face in his hands.

"Don't embarrass him too much," George admonished. "Anyway, I'm afraid the business I came for must take priority. Where's Skiroko?"

"Skiroko?" the girl echoed. "Eh, he's probably off getting piss-fuck drunk and trying to grope the dancers."

"Good to see not everything changes," George said, letting go of the girl. "I'll talk to you later."

The girl tried to plant a big wet kiss on George's cheek, but he was out of her reach before she could. George seized Shinn by the arm and pulled him to his feet.

"Do you want some water or something?" George asked surreptitiously. "Your face is redder than your space suit."

Shinn said nothing. George shrugged and pulled Shinn off through the crowd.

As they made their way through drunken men and women in various states of undress, Shinn began to feel distinctly disturbed. There was an air in this room of utter _desire_, liberally tempered with alcohol. It was driving Shinn insane; he felt like he was being suffocated in here, under the carnal abandon of everyone else.

Shinn's ruminations ceased as he came upon a man who looked like a living relic of the AD 1970s. He had rings on every finger; he had a long, black, gold-studded cane in one hand; he had a big cocktail in the other; he had velvet and satin clothes in impossibly bright colors; he had an enormous hat with an equally enormous green feather; he had a blue feather boa the size of an anaconda; he had a cape, a _cape_ of all things; he had sunglasses the size of dinner-plates; he had a foot-long cigarette holder sticking out of the side of his mouth.

"That's Skiroko," George whispered to Shinn.

"He's a _pimp?_" Shinn hissed back.

"Well, yeah," George answered, as if Shinn couldn't have said anything more obvious. "You could meet this man on any street in the universe and know he's a pimp." Shinn stared helplessly at the incomprehensibly brightly colored man as he wheeled around to face George.

"George!" he exclaimed drunkenly, stumbling forward, spilling his cocktail and dropping his gigantic cigarette holder, to staggeringly throw his arms around George. "Ya bashtard! Whaddya doin' on New Hav'n?"

"Business, my friend," George said, cordially patting Skiroko on the back. "I noticed you're a little tipsy, but I have a favor to ask anyways."

Shinn turned away from the drunken pimp and looked out over the rest of the bar. He had become only partially accustomed to the noxious atmosphere of the place, but the emotions in here were another matter entirely. He wanted fresh air, or at least to be outside.

He glanced back at George; he didn't seem to be finishing up anytime soon. With a sigh, he slid into an empty seat to wait.

Shinn stared ruefully at everyone around him; they were all drunk and would all be most miserable in the morning, but that made little difference to him. He wanted to get George's "business" done with so that he could return to the ship; this club contained too many people in the midst of drunken abandon. Shinn could feel their intoxication and lust and animalism, and it chilled him to the core.

George came up to Shinn and quickly pulled him up. "Let's go," he said, "I'll explain on the way."

As they swept out of the bar, Shinn let out a sigh of relief. George glanced curiously at him, but said nothing as they moved back out onto the street.

"Our friend is getting ready to leave," George said quietly, ushering Shinn along. "We need to find him and have our little discussion with him before he—"

The sound of a muffled scream cut George off. Shinn's eyes went wide, and he glanced down another darkened alley as his Newtype senses flared. He could feel anguish and terror; a shiver ran down his spine.

"Don't worry about it," George said quickly. Shinn continued to stare down the alley, not moving. He could still feel fear—a pulsing mass of fear, and a burning flame of frustration and anger. He could almost hear a voice pleading with the other; he could almost hear a metallic click.

There was a loud noise; Shinn felt his blood run cold. He took off running down the alley, ignoring George as he tried to stop him.

The fear and the anguish had vanished; there was nothing there, just frustration, mixed with some kind of contentment and amusement that made Shinn's blood curdle. He couldn't understand it; he felt the emotions, behind a barricaded door. He felt his strength swell up within him—

With a crash, Shinn burst through the barricaded, dilapidated door and cocked his pistol. His eyes went wide at the contents of the room.

The room was dark, musty, and stank of gunpowder and sweat. There was a dirty, scruffy, overweight man in the room, glancing blankly over his shoulder at Shinn. There was a body on the floor; it was a girl, in shredded, muddied clothes, blood pouring out of a bullet hole in her head. There was a smoking gun in the man's hand.

Shinn felt his entire body go hot with rage; he raised his pistol and emptied the magazine into the man's chest with a scream.

The man fell to the ground, riddled full of bleeding holes. He collapsed backward with a sickening splatter. Shinn continued to pull the trigger, staring with wide, smoldering, shaking eyes, ignoring the click of the empty pistol. He fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes.

George emerged in the broken doorway and surveyed the scene grimly.

"That looks like one of Mendoza's men," he said quietly, stepping past Shinn and casting an almost indifferent glance over the two bodies. "Well, I suppose he had it coming." He found a large tarp and cast it over the girl's body, and then turned to face Shinn. "This, Shinn, is why I told you not to worry about it."

Shinn dropped the empty gun, staring in disbelief at George. "But..." He looked back at the bodies. "But...I could have done something..."

George furrowed his brow, watching Shinn carefully. Shinn let out an angry scream, pounding his fist into the floor.

"I could have _done something!_" he shrieked.

George pulled Shinn back up to his feet harshly. "Okay," he said, shaking Shinn and staring calmly into his wide, teary eyes. "Maybe you _could_ have done something. You could've gotten rid of him, helped her out, escorted her home, and she'd be all safe and sound in her home tonight." He glanced pointedly at the bodies, and then looked back at Shinn. "But that's only today. Tomorrow we'll be gone, and she'll be back on her own. She'll have to go back out into the world, and guys like them—" he gestured to the dead man,"—will always be out there, and one of them will find her. And when that happens you won't be around to protect her."

"So?" Shinn exclaimed. "At least I can do something while I _am_ there!"

"But it won't change anything," George answered. "You can do something today, sure. But you won't be able to do anything tomorrow. You won't be here tomorrow. But guys like him will be here tomorrow." He sighed quietly. "There's only so far that protection schtick can go before it runs aground on reality. Yes, there's injustice in the world; yes, it's wrong; yes, it should be stopped; yes, that girl shouldn't have had to die; and yes, that guy deserved every atom of the lead you pumped him full of. But that doesn't mean there's less injustice in the world. There's still going to be some other girl who gets raped and shot by some other guy, and you won't be there to stop it. That's the way the world works."

Shinn looked angrily away. "Then...someone should _change_ it," he murmured.

George furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "Should they," he said with interest. "And who gives them the right to change the world?" Shinn looked back at him desolately. "The world belongs no more to you than it does to me or the captain or Gilbert Dullindal. It's not one person's world to change as one person sees fit. We all live here, we all have our own beliefs and wants and needs, and one person's vision of utopia doesn't fit us all."

Shinn cast his eyes to the floor in desolation. George put a consoling hand on his shoulder.

"It's not all hopeless," he went on. "The world may not be yours, but your life is." Shinn looked back up at him. "You don't have to be a raping murderer. You don't have to be a megalomaniacal dictator. You can live your life however you want. Just leave the way the world works alone, because you can't change that."

Shinn was silent, and looked away forlornly at the bodies. George sighed.

"Come on," he said. "We've still got work to do." He gently pulled Shinn out of the room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Office of the Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council, Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

Gilbert Dullindal sat in his office, brooding. Before him was the news that the _Minerva_ had spectacularly failed to bring down Shinn Asuka; he had fought back in defense of a pirate group known as the Mad Typhoon Gang, and with his assistance, one of the _Minerva_'s _Nazca_-class escorts had been destroyed and the remaining two ships forced off. It was an unexpected failure; after all, they were only _pirates_.

Now Shinn was on the loose, the _Minerva _had lost the scent, and the still-under-construction Destiny Gundam was without a pilot.

On the screen, Rau Le Creuset looked supremely amused.

"I still do not see why you find this so entertaining, Rau," Gilbert said disdainfully. "It's no laughing matter. Shinn is a powerful Newtype."

"Ah yes, Newtypes," Rau said theatrically. "You _had_ to harp on them."

Gilbert glanced distastefully at the screen. "Of course I had to," he said, slightly offended. "They are the future of humanity. They are what we all have to become."

Rau smiled knowingly. "Of course," he said sardonically. "I seem to recall a certain someone else who said that too."

Gilbert suppressed a sneer. "Then I will send _you_ to retrieve Shinn," he said. "Consider it an order as a member of FAITH."

"Oh no," Rau said, still smiling, "not a good idea."

Gilbert slowly cast an angry stare at Rau.

"You keep going on about how Shinn is a powerful Newtype," Rau continued, "and you're right, he is. But aren't you forgetting about our _other_ overemotional teenage attack dog?"

Gilbert paused for a moment. "You've had two years to turn Kira Yamato into an unbending tool. What the _hell_ are you still worried about?"

"Consider him a work in progress," Rau said with unusual nonchalance. "You said Shinn's a Newtype, and he is. Kira is no Newtype. Kira is the result of a _very_ expensive cup of soup, an attempt to artificially create something that wasn't quite a Newtype but could compete with one. Are you _sure_ you want to sic a well-developed, naturally-born Newtype on an amalgam of manipulated genes and teenage angst?"

"Have we any other choice?" Gilbert asked pointedly. "He killed Heine, and Rey couldn't bring him down. Who else shall we send?"

"No one," Rau answered. "Let him be. He's too far gone to retrieve now." He paused. "Besides, Kira would be far more useful against those _other _kids."

Gilbert scowled at Rau's riddles. "What _other_ kids?"

"You don't remember?" Rau asked amusedly. "Those little children from Orb? The Orb Raiders? Athrun Zala?" Gilbert's scowl twisted a bit further as Rau went on. "Need I remind you that they blew up the _Pangaea_ not too long ago? After their little coup in Orb failed, they must be bored. Surely someone should be off to go tell them to play somewhere else. And who better to use as a deterrent to Athrun Zala than his childhood friend, Kira Yamato?"

Gilbert looked to the side in annoyance, unable to overcome Rau's wits.

"Very well," he said at last, disgustedly. "The _Minerva_ will continue to pursue Shinn. You will continue to pursue the Orb Raiders." He glared pointedly at Rau. "Is that clear?"

Rau smirked. "Quite."

Gilbert cut the transmission and swore under his breath.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**New Haven, Lagrange Point 1**

"The man who stiffed us is called Mendoza," George said quietly. He and Shinn were hiding in the shadows outside another nightclub—this one looking far more high-class than "the Pigsty," much to Shinn's relief. "He runs a gang, has some bodyguards, nothing major. He frequents this club. I'll see if I can convince him to pay us with diplomacy; if not, we'll have to let our good friends the Berettas do the talking."

"If he didn't pay you before," Shinn said uneasily, "what makes you think he's going to submit to a good talking-to this time?"

"We've got four Berettas between us to take care of that," George said with a smirk. Shinn blinked in surprise, and looked back at the nightclub entrance. "Once again, keep a low profile. You'll know when I want you to start shooting things."

"If you say so," Shinn said uncertainly.

George pulled him out of the shadows towards the entrance. Immediately they were stopped by a very tall, very muscular man who demanded of them identification.

The bouncer stared suspiciously at Shinn. "We ain't gonna let _him_ in," he said resolutely.

"Hey," George said smoothly, producing something from his pocket, "listen, I've got a lot of connections. And my buddy here, it's his birthday and I wanna, y'know, show him a good time. I know Candi, she can vouch for it." Shinn felt his face turn red as he realized what George was talking about. "And I'm a reasonable guy, I've got connections, I can make it, y'know, worth your while. So my buddy here, he's over the age limit, he just looks young for his age. 'kay?"

The bouncer glanced skeptically at Shinn. "Young for his age," he echoed.

"_Really_ young for his age," George answered.

The bouncer stared at George for a moment and grudgingly stepped aside. George yanked Shinn inside and glanced at him with a smirk.

"Did you just pimp someone out to him?" Shinn asked quietly.

"Within the hour, he'll get into a fight with someone, get hit in the head, and forget all about it," George said smoothly. "We're looking for Mendoza. Big fat Hispanic guy. Looks like a pimp."

Shinn reluctantly began to look through the nightclub's patrons. It was certainly a classier place than the Pigsty, although it was still full of drunken people and loud, annoying noises and flashing lights. Shinn looked around uneasily, seeing no sign of "a big fat Hispanic guy who looked like a pimp."

Instead, his attention was momentarily caught by a poster on the wall. He peered closer at it and blinked in disbelief as he stared down a wanted poster of himself.

As surreptitiously as possible, he pulled it down and shoved it into his pocket. From nearby, George turned away from an abortive conversation with someone else and smirked at Shinn.

"What, you want a souvenir too?" he asked amusedly. "Come with me. Mendoza's in the showroom."

As soon as they stepped into the showroom, Shinn felt all the blood in his body once again get confused as to where to go. There were even more drunk people in here, it seemed, but that was not what was getting his attention.

"Stop staring at the strippers," George admonished with an amused smirk. "Work before pleasure."

Shinn shook his head violently, fervently wishing that he hadn't come here. He struggled to look through the crowds for a man fitting George's description.

"Hey," Shinn heard a woman's voice speak; he turned to glance at George, and then swiftly turned around so as to not look at the topless waitress George was talking to, "isn't he a little young?"

"He looks young for his age," George said.

"Really," the waitress said.

"Cut him some slack," George said. "They don't even _have_ places like this in Orb."

The waitress was silent for a moment. "Meh, I didn't see him," she said at last, and Shinn heard footsteps that he hoped were of the waitress walking away.

"You really need to stop this 'blushing brighter than the sun' thing," George said as he came up next to Shinn. "They're just tits, they won't hurt you." He glanced to the side. "Mendoza's table is over that way. Follow my lead and keep on the down-low."

Shinn stayed a step behind George as they approached a table where there was, true to George's description, a large Hispanic man who looked very much like a pimp. He angrily and drunkenly pounded on the table, tossing a half-full bottle of alcohol away with a crash.

"Whadda fuck ish dish shit?" he slurred furiously. "Ah'm a payin' custahmah! Gimme mah fuggin' beer!"

The unfortunate waitress caught in Mendoza's intoxicated warpath tried meekly to explain that he had already had one too many rounds and the other customers were asking for him to leave, but he would have none of it and delivered a drunken but no less powerful backhand that sent her flying. Shinn caught her on pure reflex, and George interposed himself between Mendoza and the stricken waitress.

"Mendoza, was that necessary?" George asked, as Shinn realized that he was handling a mostly naked woman and quickly helped her back up. Mendoza took a moment to remember the name of the man standing in front of him.

"Oh yeah, yer dat Mad Tie-sumfin' guy, huh," he asked stumblingly. "Whaddya want?"

"I came here to negotiate with you," George said. "We've noticed that you've not paid us for the shipment of mobile suit parts we sold you three weeks ago. I'd like to know when you're going to pay us."

Mendoza laughed loudly. "Pay ya!" he exclaimed staggeringly. "I ain't gonna _pay_ ya! Whaddya guys ever done fer me?"

George sighed. "Well," he said loudly, glancing over his shoulder at Shinn, "that's rather unfortunate."

Shinn lunged forward, kicking the table up into Mendoza's face and sending him tumbling backwards. Mendoza's two bodyguards drew guns out of nowhere, but before they could fire, Shinn had one of them down with a punishing kick to the back of the head. As the other brought his gun to bear, Shinn swept his legs out from under him and knocked him out with a powerful kick to the side of the head. The two bodyguards landed with a crash, and Shinn drew one of his pistols, pointing it down at Mendoza, who was starting to look quite sober.

"Well, if you pay us like you said you would, _he_ won't spray your brains all over this fine establishment," George put in, hands in his pockets, staring at the most terrified Mendoza. "_That's_ what we'll do for you."

Shinn removed the safety and glared down at Mendoza to underscore George's point. Mendoza whimpered in terror and withdrew his wallet; George seized it from his hand, and Mendoza sputtered in protest.

"We're taking interest too," George added, rifling through Mendoza's wallet and liberating bills and credit cards. "Plus we're taking a hazard bonus, for your making us do this the hard way." George pocketed the spoils from Mendoza's wallet and tossed the now empty wallet back onto Mendoza's enormous stomach. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"D-Dish ish robbery!" Mendoza protested. Shinn sneered and kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him out.

As Shinn turned to leave, the waitress he had helped up a moment ago smiled suggestively and winked at him with a not particularly subtle bounce of her bare breasts. Before Shinn could do much more than once again turn redder than a fire engine, George swept in to seize him by the arm and pull him away.

"He's not ready for _that_ yet," George explained over his shoulder as he quickly shoved Shinn out of the room. Once they got out of the showroom, Shinn let out his breath tiredly.

"Are we going back to the ship?" he asked. George smirked amusedly.

"Had your fill of boobies for one day?" he asked back. "Yes, we're going back to the ship. Now come on, before Mendoza's bodyguards wake up."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, New Haven Port, Lagrange Point 1**

"Shinn!"

As soon as he was on the _Kasselheim_, Shinn found Stella attaching herself to him. He hugged her back happily, glad to see someone who wasn't drunk or trying to get into his pants. Stella happily settled into her station of clinging to Shinn's neck. Mike and Kika emerged from nearby; Mike arched a surprised eyebrow at Shinn.

"George took you out into the colony, I hear," he said.

"Indeed I did," George said as he closed the airlock door.

"Where was Mendoza?" Kika asked, glancing neutrally at George.

"In a nightclub," George asked casually. Mike and Kika gasped in disbelief, while Stella simply blinked in a failure to understand, and Shinn tried to avoid eye contact with anyone.

"You took him into a _strip club?_" Mike exclaimed in disbelief.

"And the Pigsty," George added, turning around and shrugging.

"You took Shinn, sheltered little Shinn, into a _strip club?_" Kika asked incredulously. "And his head didn't explode from all the blood collecting in his face?"

Shinn let go of Stella and turned, drifting away towards his room. Stella immediately went after him; Mike and Kika blinked in surprise and looked at George.

"Leave him alone for a while," George advised, crossing his arms and looking at Shinn as he left. "He had a long day, strip clubs aside."

Mike simply shook his head and drifted off in the other direction. Kika watched Shinn disappear around a corner and then looked back at George.

"What happened?" she asked. "Did you get in a fight or something?"

"Shinn found one of Mendoza's men, and he'd just raped and killed some girl," George explained, glancing back at Kika. "He had a hard time dealing with it. And he seemed to have a hard time with the whole atmosphere at the Pigsty."

"Maybe I should go talk to him," Kika said, turning to leave.

"Don't," George interrupted. "Just let him be. Stella will set him right."

George pushed off down the hall; Kika looked in the direction of Shinn's room and shook her head before she took off after George.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	22. Phase 22: The Old Hero

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 22 - The Old Hero

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 13th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, New Haven Port, Lagrange Point 1**

Stella was asleep. Technically, Shinn was supposed to be as well, but instead of sleeping, he had opted to stay awake and stare helplessly at the ceiling.

He knew what he would see if he closed his eyes anyways. He would see the blank, indifferent, bloodshot eyes of that ugly man, and the bloody corpse of that girl. He would feel the anger and terror again; he would feel it simply vanish, like it had never been there in the first place, again. He would feel all the lust and drunkenness weighing down on him again. He would feel the reality of the world again.

Shinn rolled over and stared at the wall. He hadn't seen anything like this in Orb. In Orb, there was a well-funded, extremely effective police force. In Orb, there were frequent renovations and projects to keep the cities from looking like slums. In Orb, there were laws, and people followed them.

And in ZAFT, they had told him to keep his mouth shut and follow his orders like a good little boy, and in return, they sequestered him in sterile, controlled environments where lust and poverty and murder were light-years away. He hadn't been able to follow his orders, and he abandoned the sterile, controlled environments, but he had walked right into the other extreme.

He remembered George's words, that the world was not his, that this was the way it worked out here.

_Out here_. It was different; it wasn't the hamster ball that was the _Minerva_, where all the drama between the barely-pubescent crew meant everything, and the realities of the outside world were kept outside by thick laminated armor. Out here he had to face it all, to look at the face of poverty and injustice and cruelty.

He wondered if he wanted to go back. He knew, of course, that he couldn't—he had the blood of hundreds of ZAFT soldiers on his hands, and had committed just about the highest form of treason one could commit. All of PLANT knew about it. There could be no sweeping this under the rug on the Chairman's part; his friends on the _Minerva_ were his enemies now. Luna and Shiho were his enemies now, no longer friends...or in Shiho's case, an overbearing superior, but an enemy. And Rey...

Shinn paused as his thoughts turned to Rey. Had Rey been his enemy from the beginning? Rey had been the one to encourage Shinn's knowledge about Newtypes, but Rey had also been the angriest when Shinn had fought the _Minerva_...

He glanced over at Stella. She was still asleep; she looked peaceful and happy, curled up under the covers. He listened to her soft, even breathing. He had abandoned it all for her; he was staring reality in the face for her. Instead of suffering for some lofty ideal of a Newtype world, he was suffering for her.

Shinn laid his head back. Stella had no idea where to go. She was following him. He had to be strong.

At that thought, he closed his eyes.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Lagrange Point 1**

_He betrayed me._

Rey Za Burrel stared furiously out the window of the _Minerva_'s modest observation room, at the countless stars of outer space. He did not want to remember, but he did. He heard his own words again, as he helped a desolate Shinn back to his feet at Carpentaria base, seemingly so long ago, explaining to Shinn who Kira Yamato was and why Shinn had to destroy him. Kira was wrong, an evil, an affront to nature and the universe, something that couldn't be allowed to exist. Shinn was supposed to destroy him. He heard himself again, telling Shinn his secret, that he was a clone and it was up to Shinn to create Gil's new world. He saw himself standing behind Shinn, trying to keep him focused.

And then he saw Shinn, in the infirmary aboard the _Minerva_, eyes flashing in fury as he stood between the _Minerva_'s pilots and Stella Loussier. He saw Shinn on the deck of the _Minerva_, as Stella wasted away, cursing the Chairman. He saw Shinn return to the _Minerva_ in chains and still stare defiantly at everyone.

And then, he saw Shinn on the Moon, standing victoriously and ominously over Rey's defeated ZAKU.

Rey curled his fists furiously around the railing. Shinn betrayed ZAFT. Shinn betrayed the new world. Shinn betrayed Rey. Shinn betrayed Gil.

Rey scowled. Shinn could not be forgiven.

"Shinn," he murmured quietly, "your existence...cannot be forgiven."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, New Haven Port, Lagrange Point 1**

"Pilots," said Mev's voice as the man himself came walking slowly out of the darkness, "are supposed to be sleeping."

Shinn glanced to the side, finding Mev Typhoon striding slowly towards him, in the darkened starboard observation hallway of the _Kasselheim_. He looked back at the unappealing panorama of the New Haven Port.

"What are you doing out here?" Mev went on, standing next to Shinn and staring out at the port. Shinn stared down dismally at the port, trying not to look at Mev. "We have an important raid tomorrow," Mev continued. "A certain customer of ours has requested some Earth Alliance mobile suit parts. We're going to find a freighter full of such parts and provide them."

"That's not it," Shinn said quietly. Mev looked down at Shinn impassively.

"Are you still thinking about your day in the colony?" Mev asked. Shinn's silence was all the confirmation Mev needed. "I see." He looked back out at the colony. "It's not the sort of thing they tell you about in ZAFT, I suppose."

"It's not the sort of thing they tell you about in Orb either," Shinn grumbled.

"They don't tell you _anything_ in Orb," Mev said, crossing his arms. "As uncomfortable an experience as it was, it was necessary. You needed to see what the world we live in is like, not the world Orb and ZAFT live in."

Shinn continued to stare at the port. "I don't want to be like that man," he said.

Mev arched an eyebrow at him. "Who said you had to?" he asked. Shinn blinked and finally looked up at him. "We're space pirates and we make our living by stealing and threatening and killing, but does that alone make us morally reprehensible? Is that all we are? Would you, for instance, find Kika morally reprehensible just because she serves on this ship?"

"N-No," Shinn said, looking confusedly at Mev.

"In ZAFT, your moral compass was fixed in one direction," Mev said, looking back down at the port. "Out here, you can point it wherever you like. All I ask is that you do your job."

Shinn looked back down at the port as well. "In Orb and in ZAFT they said you guys were monsters."

"That's because it was their equipment we were stealing and reselling," Mev answered. "The people who call us monsters have their own reasons. Those are their taxes and equipment and creations that we steal and resell. We steal and resell that equipment for our own reasons. We _all_ have our reasons for doing everything we do, just like you had your reasons for deserting ZAFT."

Shinn looked back up at Mev. "What are we going to do, then?" he asked. "I mean, about the war."

Mev crossed his arms. "The question is not what we will do about the war," he said. "The question is what the war will do about us."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 14th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, near Lagrange Point 1**

Up ahead was a lone _Marseille III_-class Earth Alliance space freighter. A squadron of Strike Daggers was arrayed on its deck, and a larger force of Mobius mobile armors surrounded it. Clearly, it had somehow been separated from a larger convoy. It would make an easy prey. Behind them all was the colony of New Haven, at Lagrange Point 1. Between them both was the _Kasselheim_. The _Kasselheim_ turned its guns towards the freighter; its mobile suit hatches opened, and inside the Impulse Gundam, Shinn Asuka steeled himself for battle.

"There's our target," Chris began, as his 105 Dagger stepped onto one of the catapults. "Avoid aiming at the cargo bays. Take out the mobile suits and mobile armors before you—"

"Mobile armors?" Miki interrupted in disbelief. "They're _still_ using those things?"

"Take them out before you attack the ship," Chris continued with an edge of annoyance. "Aim for the engines before anything else and just disable the ship."

George's CGUE stepped up next to the Impulse. "You look tense, Shinn," he observed. "Calm down. It's an easy target."

Shinn clipped a magazine into the Impulse's bazooka and glanced back at George wordlessly. He looked back at the ship; the Daggers and mobile armors were taking off towards the _Kasselheim_.

"I trust you'll not let us down, Shinn," Mev said ominously through the Impulse's cockpit speakers. "Follow Chris's instructions on the battlefield."

"You'll do fine, Shinn," Kika added confidently. "Now get going."

Shinn tightened his grip around the controls and stepped onto the other catapult.

"Shinn Asuka, Impulse, going out!"

The catapult fired; the Impulse rocketed forward.

Shinn felt the tension begin to melt away as he flew forward. This was his element; this was what he could do.

The mobile suits and mobile armors began to fire; Shinn narrowed his eyes and took off towards them.

The first Dagger swept in, beam rifle raised; Shinn ducked beneath its beam shot and switched from his bazooka to his beam rifle, taking the Dagger down with a blast to the cockpit. He dove up above a second Dagger; a beam shot speared it through its torso, and Zora's GuAIZ swept down through the wreckage, igniting its beam claw to slash a third Dagger in half. Shinn took off towards the freighter, pausing to dive aside and shoot down a Mobius as it tried to squeeze off a railgun shot at him. Another Mobius came after him from behind, supported by another Dagger.

Gan's GINN Assault blew away the Mobius with a blast from its bazooka. Shinn swung around to fire up at another Dagger as it tried to shoot him down from behind; as that Dagger exploded, the Impulse whipped around to destroy another Mobius.

A blaze of beam cannon blasts tore across space, ripping through a pair of Mobiuses and a Dagger; the Gaia rocketed by overhead, angling up towards the freighter and pausing to shoot down another Dagger.

"Shinn, leave these guys to the others!" George instructed; the CGUE backed away from the fight, shooting down a Mobius as it charged at him, and turned towards the freighter. "That ship is trying to make a run for it!"

Shinn switched to his bazooka and charged up at the freighter. "I won't let them!" he shouted. A Dagger dove towards him, beam rifle raised, but he somersaulted over its head and kicked it in the back as he passed; Miki's GINN High Maneuver II immediately swept in to wipe it out with a beam carbine shot.

George's CGUE charged at the freighter's cargo bay doors and slashed them open with its heavy laser sword. The Gaia twisted out of the way of a beam shot and charged, as Stella screamed angrily at the attacking mobile suits; Shinn paused to go help her, but the freighter's engines began to speed up.

"They're trying to escape!" George exclaimed, as his CGUE cut down a Mobius with a Vulcan burst.

Shinn raised his bazooka and fired two rounds at the freighter's engines, blowing the engine pods off. Zora's GuAIZ swept in to finish the engines off with a pair of beam rifle shots. Gan and Miki stopped the freighter with the thrusters of their own mobile suits, while Stella tore apart the last few mobile suits and mobile armors.

George's CGUE landed on the freighter's deck and pointed its beam rifle at the freighter's bridge.

"Attention Earth Alliance freighter," he said, "you are about to be boarded and the cargo of this vessel confiscated. Throw down your weapons and stop resisting, and we'll let you keep your lives."

"You pirate scum!" an angry voice answered. "We're not going to surrender to the likes of you! Continue fighting! Prepare for hand-to-hand—"

The voice said no more as George blew up the bridge with a beam rifle shot. "They never listen," he said as the CGUE turned and stomped towards the bow of the ship. "Signal for the worker mobile suits to start emptying the cargo bay. The pleasure's over, it's time for business now."

Shinn glanced across the battlefield at the wreckage, and then back at the Mad Typhoon mobile suits as they converged on the freighter's torn-open cargo bay. He glanced at the Gaia as it drifted closer to the Impulse.

"Shinn," Stella said uneasily, "...is it okay?"

Shinn blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?" he asked. The Gaia came to a rest next to the Impulse. Stella said nothing more and looked away awkwardly. Shinn glanced at her face, and then back at the freighter.

is _it okay...?_

He sat back and watched as a handful of Works GINNs and Raystas drifted out of the _Kasselheim_'s hangar towards the drifting cargo ship. George's CGUE drifted towards him.

"What's wrong, Shinn?" he asked, staring intently at Shinn's face. Shinn blinked in surprise.

"N-Nothing," he said quickly.

"Bullshit," Gan cut in, her annoyed face appearing on Shinn's screen next. "Cut the emo crap and talk."

"Go help the worker bees get that ship unloaded," George said pointedly. Gan opened her mouth to protest, but George shot her a look that was not to be argued with, and she resignedly took off towards the freighter. George's CGUE turned towards the Impulse and fired a thin wire from its left hand, landing on the Impulse's armor. "I guess we'll have to do it like this," George went on. "Now then, what's wrong?"

Shinn looked away awkwardly.

"No one can hear us," George said. "Something is wrong, and you can't hide it forever. Talk."

Shinn cast a sidelong glance back at George and found him not budging. "It just seems weird," he said quietly. "It's like we're stealing."

"We stole from Mendoza," George pointed out. "You didn't seem to have a problem with that."

"But he deserved it," Shinn protested. "You saw him, he smacked that girl across the room. He stiffed you guys before Stella and I came along. He had it coming." He glanced at the transport, as the mobile suits steadily ferried crate after crate out of the hold and into the _Kasselheim_. "But these guys...I mean, they're military, so they're fair game, but..."

"But what?" George asked. Shinn looked back at him, surprised. "Stealing is okay if the guy we steal from is an asshole who deserves it? We'd have plenty of people to steal from, sure, but not many assholes who deserve to be robbed have mobile suit parts, and what we steal and sell is mobile suit parts. Where do mobile suits like these come from? The military. You said yourself, they're fair game."

"I know," Shinn said, defeated.

"Then don't worry about it," George replied. "Everyone's living is at the expense of someone else's. Ours just has less bullshit between you and the truth of it." The CGUE turned its monoeye back towards the cruiser. "Now then, let's get to unloading this freighter. The Alliance will take a while to notice that this freighter's out of commission, but once they do, they won't be happy, and we won't want to be around when they come calling."

The CGUE detached its wire from the Impulse's armor and turned towards the freighter. Shinn glanced over at the Gaia, at Stella.

"You don't mind it, do you Stella?" he asked, hoping she'd figure out what he meant.

"...it's like home," Stella said quietly, looking encouragingly at him.

Shinn smiled at her and took off towards the freighter.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 15th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Lagrange Point 1**

On one end of the office was Talia, hands clasped behind her back, staring up into the ceiling, lost in thought. On the other end, seated awkwardly in a chair in front of Talia's desk, was Shiho, waiting uncomfortably for Talia to speak.

"Shiho," she said at last, turning around, "what do you think of Rey?"

Shiho blinked in surprise, caught off guard. "W-what do you mean?" she asked back.

Talia paused for a moment, surprised as well. "What do you think of him?" she asked again. "How do you regard him, how do you get along with him, that sort of thing."

Shiho blinked, feeling awkward. "Why are you asking?" she asked. "I mean, as FAITH members—"

"Forget about FAITH," Talia said. "I'm Talia Gladys. You're Shiho Hahnenfuss. I'm asking what you think of Rey Za Burrel. Put aside the uniforms and the shiny badges and the nice Xeroxed letters the Chairman sent you. I'm making an important decision and I want your input."

Shiho looked at the floor, still feeling awkward. "He's a comrade in arms," she said cautiously.

"Of course he is," Talia said. "So am I, so is Lunamaria, so are Aoma and Ruumari...so was Shinn. We all fought on the same side, but we all got along very differently. I'm asking you how you get along with Rey. As compared to how you get along with, say, Lunamaria."

Shiho stood up. "Captain, with all due respect, tell me what this is all about," she said. "I want to know what's going on." Talia looked at her in surprise. "There are all sorts of strange things going on. Shinn was cleared of his treason charges when he brought back Stella for a reason. We, his old comrades, with all our emotional attachments and biases towards him that cloud our judgment, are the ones tracking him down for a reason. Hell, Shinn was assigned the Impulse in the first place for a reason. Skilled as he may be, he could never have been a soldier without someone dressing him up in the uniform and giving him the shiny Gundam. What's going on?"

Talia smiled. "Good to see you haven't missed too much," she said. Her smile faded. "In that case, I have another question for you." She paused. "What do you think of the Chairman?"

Shiho blinked again. "The Chairman? Captain, I don't—"

"If you want me to answer any of your questions, you have to answer mine," Talia said. "Let's drop the pretenses, Shiho. We're not two ZAFT officers right now, we're not two of the Chairman's little servants right now, we're just two women trying to talk in an enclosed space about something important." She uncrossed her arms. "Now then. My question. What do you think of the Chairman?"

Shiho paused awkwardly. "I regard him as I would our national leader," she said. "I follow his orders because that is my job. He's the Chairman. I obey him."

Talia paused a moment. "Very well then," she said. "My other question. What do you think of Rey?"

"I regard him as I would any other comrade," Shiho answered cautiously.

"Is that it?" Talia asked. Shiho looked away and sighed.

"Do you want the truth?" she asked resignedly.

"What makes you think I don't?" Talia responded, crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow.

"He makes me feel uncomfortable," Shiho admitted. "Like he's got something to hide. I can appreciate his cool head and professionalism. They're traits that Shinn always lacked, and having to deal with them both as subordinates, Rey is always far easier to work with. But Rey is too cold for me to be able to appreciate him for his professionalism. I keep getting the feeling he's got some ulterior motive."

Talia studied Shiho's face in surprise a moment, and then turned away. "Well," she said, "you're right. He _does_ have something to hide." She looked back guardedly at Shiho. "You are, of course, aware that nothing we say leaves this room."

Shiho nodded uneasily. Talia turned away again.

"Rey is a clone," she said bluntly. Shiho blinked in disbelief, but before she could say anything, Talia continued. "A man called Al Da Fllaga tried to extend his legacy beyond his naturally-born son by creating clones of himself. The first is a certain fellow you might know by the name of Rau Le Creuset." Shiho gasped, shocked. "He didn't turn out quite right. Before his death, Al tried again. The end result was Rey. He didn't turn out quite right either." Talia's face darkened as buried emotions came back to the surface. "Eleven years ago, Gilbert and I got married and tried to have a child. Unfortunately, before I was born, something went wrong during the alteration of my genes, and I could never carry a child as a result. Gilbert and I tried to adopt. We met Rey." Her face darkened further, her fists clenching angrily. "He liked to play the piano. He was a sweet little boy who asked me to be his mother. We adopted him. And then..." She broke off, trembling angrily, and then turned to face Shiho. "Have you ever heard of Newtypes?"

"Newtypes?" Shiho asked in surprise. "Aren't they mutants?"

Talia smirked amusedly. "Something like that," she answered. She looked away again, and the anger returned. "Gilbert saw the traits of one of those Newtypes in Rey. So he took him away. He divorced me, he ran off and joined the Zodiac Alliance, he helped set up ZAFT, he worked with Rau Le Creuset...and there I was, left on the sidelines."

"Captain, why are you telling me this?" Shiho broke in, upset. Talia looked back at her.

"You're the commander of our mobile suit squadron," she said. "I want to know what you would think if I were to send a request to the National Defense Council asking for Rey to be reassigned."

Shiho blinked in disbelief. "_Reassigned?_" she echoed. "Captain, I know it's warned against, but the Chairman's not around and Rey's on this ship, under your command as much as he is under mine! You have a chance to reconnect with your son!"

Talia laughed bitterly; Shiho broke off in surprise. "The Rey Za Burrel who was going to be my son was a sweet little boy who liked to play the piano and would have no idea what the hell Newtypes or mobile suits or 'new world orders' were," she said. "Look at him now. That's not my son. That's not Gilbert's son either. That's Gilbert's attack dog."

Shiho looked desolately at Talia.

"Gilbert is at odds with me over what he did to Rey," Talia continued. "He says that I was going to waste his Newtype potential. He sent Heine to keep an eye on me. And he saw Newtype potential in Shinn."

"In Shinn?" Shiho echoed. "You mean that's—"

"You saw the press conference Gilbert thrust that boy into," Talia said bitterly. "You saw the poster boy he turned Shinn into. And yet you were there, his commanding officer, every day seeing the real Shinn Asuka, the Shinn Asuka that hadn't been dressed up all pretty by Gilbert's PR staff. Attitude aside, what did you see?"

Shiho paused, searching for words. "He was angry," she said at last. "Purposeless. He threw himself into battles without any regard for his own life, but he didn't do it for the PLANTs' sake, he just did it..._because_."

Talia closed her eyes grimly. "Gilbert saw the same traits in Shinn that he saw in Rey. I don't know what he did to Rey in those eleven years after he took Rey away. I don't think I want to know. All I know is that he was going to do the same things to Shinn. But Shinn...he was different. Whatever Gilbert did to Rey, he broke, and now look at him. He's not Rey. He's not even human anymore. He's Gilbert's tool. But Shinn had a breaking point, and Gilbert went past it."

"But the Chairman was only on the ship for a week or so," Shiho protested. Talia turned back to face Shiho again.

"What do you think Rey was here for?" she asked. "He was here to keep pushing Shinn's Newtype potential along. Heine was there to keep an eye on me, and I only managed to defang him by putting him under your command. Gilbert knows that I didn't want what happened to Rey to happen to Shinn. He put Heine here to stop me from meddling with anything, and he put Rey here to push Shinn along into becoming another Newtype tool. He never counted on Shinn meeting that Extended girl, and developing a strong enough attachment to overcome his weak ties to ZAFT and Rey and Gilbert. He never realized that Shinn had a breaking point, that he might not buy into all that Newtype garbage he stuffed down Rey's throat."

"Captain, what does this have to do with reassigning Rey?" Shiho asked helplessly. "I mean, he was still your son, maybe you can, I don't know, take him back."

"Would I want to?" Talia asked back. "Shinn's not here anymore; as far as Gilbert's concerned, there is no need to keep Rey here. And yet he's still here. Gilbert wants to keep Rey around here to make me suffer. He hasn't realized that I've accepted the fact that I can't change what he did to Rey. As far as I'm concerned now, Rey's dead. The blond-haired boy walking around the _Minerva_ is just Gilbert's little servant." She sighed quietly. "But as long as Rey's here, Gilbert will try to use him against me. So that is why I want him reassigned." She turned to face Shiho again. "I joined ZAFT and accepted captainship of the _Minerva_ in order to protect my homeland. I will not take part in Gilbert's grudges and machinations. As far as I am concerned, Rey is an extension of Gilbert. I did not want Gilbert aboard the _Minerva_ when we left from Armory 1, for many reasons. I still do not want him aboard the _Minerva_." She paused pointedly. "You understand, right?"

Shiho paused in surprise, and nodded gravely. "I understand, captain," she said.

Talia looked away again. "They say Newtypes are the only ones who really understand," she said grimly.

"You don't have to be a Newtype to understand someone," Shiho said quietly. Talia looked back at her, and she smiled.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, near Lagrange Point 1**

"So," Kika said, as she drifted about in the _Kasselheim_'s modest crew lounge, "who are these guys we swiped all these EAF parts for anyways?"

From somewhere near the ceiling, Mike Martinez had a crossword puzzle in the back of a newspaper rolled up, and looked up blankly at Kika from it. "Eh, some kinda resistance guys," he said with a shrug. "Orb-something or other."

From across the room, Shinn blinked and looked over his shoulder from his abortive attempt at conversation with Stella. "Orb?" he asked, turning and facing Mike. "Orb what?"

"Dunno," Mike repeated with another shrug. "All I heard is that that Zala fellow is flying with them."

"Zala?" Shinn exclaimed. "Athrun Zala?"

"Well, Zala the Elder bought the farm in '71," Kika put in, pausing to take a sip of soda, "so yeah. Unless Mr. Fantastic has some siblings we're not aware of."

"Why are we selling parts to them?" Shinn exclaimed. Kika and Mike both looked in surprise at him; Kika opened her mouth to speak—

"Because they paid us," another voice spoke up. Shinn turned towards its owner, and to his chagrin, found Viima striding into the room, staring in annoyance at Shinn. "It's none of our concern what they're going to do with the parts after we hand them over."

Shinn opened his mouth to shoot back an angry reply, but something stopped him. He remembered George's words, about everyone living at someone else's expense, and felt his blood run hot.

Viima looked up harshly at Mike and Kika. "The _Megami_ will be here tomorrow to pick up the supplies," she said brusquely. "You two had better be ready to receive them." And with that she stalked out of the room.

Mike snorted disgustedly after she left. "What mobile suit crawled up her ass and self-detonated?" he grumbled, going back to his crossword.

Kika looked down at Shinn and found him sitting in front of Stella, seething. She drifted down to the floor and poked him in the forehead; he snapped his attention up in surprise at her.

"What's got you all pissy now?" she asked. "Did the Orb Raiders kick your puppy when you were little?"

Shinn jumped to his feet angrily. "The Athhas are why my family—" He caught himself and glanced at Stella; she stared blankly back at him, and he looked furiously back at Kika. "They're the ones who kept that neutrality bullshit up," he hissed. "If they had just shut up and let the Atlantic Fed use Kaguya, there wouldn't have been an invasion!"

"Yeah, and you wouldn't have gotten orphaned, you wouldn't have been somehow swept into ZAFT, and you wouldn't have met Stella," Kika pointed out. Shinn blinked in surprise. "Reality sucks, but would you really trade what you've got now for a bunch of what-ifs?"

Shinn looked away, awkward and angry.

"I remember 'em now," Mike put in from somewhere around the ceiling. "They aren't that bad. That Athrun guy's kind of a pussy, but whatever."

"Yeah, okay, that neutrality thing was like planting a big target on their faces," Kika said, "but you couldn't do anything about it then, and you can't do anything about it now. All you can do now is keep living for the sake of the life you've got now."

"...why is Shinn mad?" Stella's voice spoke up suddenly. Shinn turned around in surprise. "Doesn't Shinn wanna protect Stella?"

"Y-Yeah," Shinn stammered, caught off guard. Stella stared at him for a moment.

"Shinn's never happy," she observed quietly. "How come?"

Shinn blinked and opened his mouth to respond, but could think of nothing to say. He turned around to look at Kika; he shrugged and gestured back to Stella.

"Ask her," she said.

She turned around and went back to bugging Mike, and Shinn turned around to once again face Stella.

"What do you mean I'm never happy?" he asked.

"Shinn's always mad or sad," Stella said quietly. "Shinn should be happy."

Shinn opened his mouth once more to speak, and once more he said nothing, and instead sat down in silence.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 16th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, near Lagrange Point 1**

On the starboard observation deck, Shinn stared ruefully at the sleek, sable hull of the _Megami_. It was a nice-enough looking ship. It had the legs and wings of the _Archangel_-class, the main body of the _Eternal_ class, and the engines and catapult deck of the _Izumo_-class. It was painted over with black—the rumors said it had Mirage Colloid. Shinn watched a pair of white-painted Murasames haul a large crate from the _Kasselheim_'s starboard cargo bay to the _Megami_'s hangar. He stared at the bridge, or at least what looked like the bridge.

He severely hoped that Cagalli Yula Athha would stay on her own damn ship.

There were voices off to the right; Shinn glanced disdainfully in that direction, but something caught his eye, and as he turned around to face it, his eyes widened in disbelief.

There were two men there, talking with Mev. The men wore blue and white uniforms. One of them nodded at something the other said, and headed down the corridor, out of sight. The remaining man turned, and Shinn could see in profile the face of Athrun Zala.

Athrun stopped short, glancing down the corridor, and turned to face Shinn. He said something to Mev; Mev said something else and disappeared down the corridor. Athrun looked back at Shinn.

Shinn tensed. The man before him, without a doubt, was Athrun Zala—the famous Athrun Zala, the hero, the soldier, the traitor. But Shinn was a traitor now too. Did that make them kinsmen?

Athrun approached slowly. "You're Shinn Asuka, aren't you?" he asked cautiously. Shinn stared at him suspiciously for a second, before he finally nodded slowly. Athrun extended his hand. "I remember you," he said. "We met at Junius 7."

"I know," Shinn said quietly. He hesitantly shook Athrun's hand. Athrun offered Shinn a polite smile.

"I prefer these circumstances, though," he said. "I heard about your, ah, altercation with ZAFT."

Shinn looked away scornfully. "Who hasn't?"

Athrun blinked in surprise. "Do you still have some ill will towards them?"

"Shouldn't you?" Shinn shot back, looking back at Athrun. "You left ZAFT too. Didn't they wrong you too?"

Athrun smiled knowingly. "You could say that," he said. "The war had gone out of control and I couldn't bring myself to follow the orders of people who were going more and more insane." He paused. "Is that why you left?"

Shinn looked away again. "I left because they were going to let Stella die," he said plainly. Athrun blinked

"Stella?" he asked. "Who is that?"

Shinn looked back at Athrun, surprised. "They didn't tell you?" he asked. Athrun shook his head.

"Did you leave for this person's sake?" Athrun asked. Shinn looked away again.

"She was in the EAF," he explained quietly. "I captured her. She would've died had I not taken her back to the Alliance. At Arzachel, my friends attacked her again, so I defended her."

Athrun nodded with a smile. "Love for one outweighed love for your country," he said.

"The PLANTs weren't my country," Shinn snarled, glaring back at Athrun.

"Then what was?" Athrun asked.

Shinn looked back at the wall angrily. "Why'd you join ZAFT in the first place?" he asked.

Athrun was taken aback for a moment, before he shrugged slightly. "My father was chairman of the National Defense Council, so it was expected," he said. "My mother was killed on Junius 7, so that made it personal." He paused again. "And you?"

Shinn glanced at Athrun. "I lived in Orb," he said quietly. "My family was killed during the EAF invasion." Athrun blinked in surprise as Shinn's visage darkened. "They were killed by the Freedom."

"The Freedom?" Athrun echoed. "By Kira?"

"Yes," Shinn snarled, turning to face Athrun, "by Kira."

"But—Kira wouldn't have done that on purpose," Athrun protested. "Not then. It must've been an accident."

"An accident?" Shinn snorted. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? That he didn't _mean_ to, it just 'happened?' That doesn't bring them back." He paused, considering something. "And what do you mean 'not then?'"

Athrun sighed and looked away. "Kira and I have a long and tumultuous history," he said with a hint of sorrow. Shinn blinked in surprise at his tone of voice. "Kira was my best friend. Twists of fate made us enemies during the Valentine War. I fought against him until he killed one of my friends, and in my thirst for revenge, I killed one of his. We were at each other's throats and nearly killed each other, and that's when I took out the -X105 Strike." He looked back at Shinn. "I ran around the battlefield, killing people like my father told me to, until I finally thought I had killed my best friend. Then Kira stole the Freedom, I was sent after him with the Justice, and I found him fighting at Orb." He paused. "That must've been the battle where your family was killed."

"What does that have to do with what I asked?" Shinn asked.

"Kira and I fought alongside each other to the end of the war," Athrun answered, "but at the end of the war, something must've been weighing on him, and I made an 'accident' of my own. I accidentally destroyed an escape shuttle that must have had someone important to Kira on board. Looking back, it seems like that situation had been set up to frame me, but Kira fell for it, and he hates me now as much as he did when we had killed each other's friends and were at each other's throats." He shrugged again. "Now he's my enemy. He's as mindlessly obedient and murderous for ZAFT as I was. The person who accidentally killed your family is not the same person piloting the Freedom today." He put a hand on Shinn's shoulder; Shinn jerked back in surprise. "I apologize for your family's death, though."

Shinn looked away hatefully. "It's not your fault," he said. "It's Kira Yamato's, and the Athhas'."

Athrun blinked in surprise. "The Athhas?" he echoed.

"Who else?" Shinn snarled. "They were the ones who kept insisting that Orb was neutral! If they had just let the EAF use Kaguya, everything would have been fine!" He pounded his fist against the wall. "That damned Uzumi got us attacked, and Cagalli abandoned us!"

"Cagalli?" Athrun echoed. "What are you—"

"She ran off on the _Kusanagi_ and played hero in space while the rest of us were on the ground, suffering!" Shinn shouted, glowering at Athrun. "If she had _really_ been our princess, she would have come back and suffered with us, and helped rebuild us while we had the Atlantic Federation breathing down our necks! She would have _represented_ us! She wouldn't have gone off to meddle in the end of the war!"

Athrun sighed quietly. "Maybe you're right," he said, "but don't be so hard on Cagalli. She did what she thought was right."

"So?" Shinn exclaimed. "Everyone does what they think is right! Does that mean nobody does wrong?"

Athrun shook his head. "Of course not," he said. "But Cagalli is the same age as me. Both of us aren't much older than you. We're not really experienced in the ways of the world, but that doesn't mean we can't go out and try to do something in it. Cagalli didn't necessarily want to leave, and she did want to go back, but it would have been impossible. Uzumi sent her to space so that she _could_ end the war. And since then, we've both had enough experiences to make us a little wiser and more mature. She's fighting to regain control of the Orb government right now. Once she does, she'll have a plan more mature and more flexible than Uzumi's." He sighed. "I guess I see where you're coming from. But don't hold it against Cagalli. It was Kira who killed your family, not the Athhas."

Shinn snorted indifferently.

"Athrun," a voice said; Athrun turned towards another man in an Orb uniform. The man motioned towards the _Megami_; Athrun nodded and turned back to face Shinn.

"I'm glad to have met you," he said again, extending his hand. Shinn stared at it a moment before he hesitantly shook it. "Hopefully we won't have to meet on the battlefield again."

Athrun turned and disappeared around a corner. Shinn stared suspiciously after him, and then returned his gaze to the _Megami_.

_Kira, not the Athhas, huh?_

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	23. Phase 23: Beneath the Mask

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 23 - Beneath the Mask

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 17th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to the Moon**

Stella Loussier was utterly baffled. Miki had barged into her room, yanked her out of bed, and quickly gotten her dressed. Before Stella knew what was going on, Miki had whisked her out of her room and into the hallway.

"What's going on?" Stella asked uneasily.

"I'm taking you out of that room and into the galley," Miki said resolutely, shoving Stella forward. "It's unhealthy for you to be cooped up in there with the Emo Marauder all the time."

"...emo?" Stella echoed blankly.

Miki shook her head. "Never mind," she said, "just come on. We're getting breakfast."

Stella stared in confusion over her shoulder at Miki. "...why?"

"What do you mean 'why?'" Miki said, stopping short. Stella turned around slowly to face her. "We eat breakfast. Most important meal of the day."

"...but...why is Miki making Stella go?" Stella asked slowly. Miki paused, searching for words.

"I wanna be your friend," she said, sticking her hand out and smiling. "And if we're gonna be friends, it means we do stuff like this."

Stella looked down at Miki's hand, and then back up at Miki's smiling face.

"Don't you wanna be friends?" Miki asked, her hand falling, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

Stella stared at Miki for a moment. "...friends..." she repeated. "...like Sting and Auel..."

Miki looked aside uneasily. "Uh, sure, I guess," she said with a shrug. "So, um...we friends?"

Stella was silent a moment, before she smiled. "Okay..."

Miki grinned victoriously. "Great!" she exclaimed, grabbing Stella by the shoulders and turning her around, pushing her back down the hall. "Then we can get breakfast! I'm starving!"

Stella blinked in confusion as Miki wheeled her into the galley. Across the room, Yun and Gan glanced in surprise at Stella as she drifted into the room.

"Hey, you got Little Miss Recluse out into the light," Gan said, pausing to take a healthy swig of coffee. "Does Shinn know about this?"

Miki shot a glare at Gan as she pushed Stella towards an empty seat. "What do you think?" she asked. "Kika's probably off trying to get in his pants anyways."

"What?" Yun exclaimed, her eyes widening in horror. "You mean we've got _more_ drama to deal with?"

Another door opened; the intimidating shade of Zora Naikov swept into the room, with George not far behind her. She glanced neutrally at Stella for a moment and disappeared into a side room.

"I see you coaxed Stella out of hiding," George said as he approached Miki. He turned towards Stella. "So what do you think?"

Stella stared blankly at him for a moment. "...it's loud," she said softly. George smiled and glanced at Miki.

"Your heart's in the right place, Miki," he said, "but let's not go running until we know how to walk."

"...where's Shinn?" Stella asked suddenly. George glanced at her.

"No idea," he said. He glanced over his shoulder and drifted off towards Zora, as she stared guardedly at everyone else. Stella looked back at Miki, confused.

"Stella wants to find Shinn," she said. Miki blinked.

"Shinn? Ah, well..." Miki sighed in defeat. "Okay. Just let me get my breakfast." She paused for a moment. "You want anything?"

Stella stared at Miki for a moment. "...hungry," she said quietly.

Miki grinned, grabbed Stella by the arm, and pulled her towards the kitchen.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"He's a liability, captain!"

Mev Typhoon sat in the captain's chair, a piping cup of coffee in hand. Viima stood defensively to the side, clenching her gloved fists. Chris leaned against the wall to the right, watching everything neutrally. From the helm, Mike tried to look like he was just minding his own business.

Mev sat back and took a sip of coffee. "Of course he's a liability," he said. "If you want to look at it that way, so are you. What's your point?"

Viima bristled angrily. "He has a death mark on his head in the PLANTs!" she protested. "They sent their best ship after him! They sent _FAITH members_ after him! He's not some smalltime punk; he's committed treason, and ZAFT is hunting him down! And we're the ones giving him shelter!"  
"Again, if you want to play the 'he's an outlaw so he's a liability' card, the same applies to you," Mev said smoothly. "Need I remind you of your little tiff with the Marshall Colony Authority?"

Viima sputtered angrily. "That's different!" she exclaimed. "They framed me and forced me into exile!"

"And who said that's not the case with Shinn?" Mev asked. He glanced down at Mike. "What do you think?"

Mike sighed, partly because he had just been dragged into the conversation. "He's a kid," he said with a shrug. "Still has some growing up to do, but he's not that bad." He turned his chair around to face Mev. "Yeah, he's got the _Minerva_ all over our asses now, but he's also capable of chasing them off himself. Net result, more excitement than we're ever used to, but it's not like our profession is for those of delicate constitution anyway."

"Are you really going to keep taking that chance, captain?" Viima asked. "He may be a good pilot, but he's dangerous!"

"Only to the people who piss him off," Mike put in with a shrug. "He and Stella are damned good pilots, and they've got a couple of Gundams. You don't just find Gundams anywhere."

"Captain!" Viima exclaimed. "ZAFT sent the _Minerva_ specifically to track down Shinn! Now that they know he's here, it's only a matter of time before they send enough troops to finish us off!"

Mev stood up and slowly turned to face Chris. "Your thoughts?" he asked.

Chris was silent a moment. "He does his job," he said indifferently. "That's all I care about."

Mev turned to face Viima again; she sighed in frustration.

"You were there, Viima, when we made our deal," Mev said. "He would work for us, fight for us, and help us. In return, we would provide him with a home. He has worked for and fought for and helped us. Shall we break our contract without good reason?"

Viima stormed out of the bridge in disgust. Mev sat back down indifferently.

"But still, captain," Mike spoke up hesitantly, "we can't rely on Shinn to hold the _Minerva_ off all the time. Like Viima said, sooner or later ZAFT will send more troops after us. What will we do when that happens?"

Mev sat back and draped one leg over the other.

"We will let fate answer that question."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 18th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to the Moon**

The Impulse's OS was finally recalibrated. Shinn closed up the cockpit panels with a sigh and climbed out of the cockpit. The Impulse was what made him worth something; it had to be at its best.

"So," a voice that Shinn was growing all too accustomed to began jovially, "how'd you get this thing?"

Glancing down the gantry, Shinn found Kika drifted towards him. He glanced up at the silent Impulse.

"Haven't I told you enough about me?" he asked uncomfortably, grabbing another pull-bar and taking off down the direction Kika had come. She watched him go for a moment, huffed indignantly, and hopped up into the corridor over his head, drifting down headfirst in front of him and stopping him.

"Stop being all pissy," she said with a grin. "I'm trying to be friendly."

Shinn tried to go around her; Kika righted herself and stopped him again.

"I mean it," she said, her smile fading. "You're never going to last in the world if you're all pissy and shut off."

Shinn looked away in annoyance. "I don't need to go wearing my heart on my sleeve," he said scornfully. Kika shook her head.

"Well, at least try to be a little more receptive, okay?" she asked. She paused, finding him still not answering her, and smacked him upside the head.

Shinn sputtered in surprise, staring angrily at her. "What the hell was that for?" he demanded.

"To make you pay attention," she said sweetly. "Now talk to me. That's how this whole 'conversation' thing works."

"I don't like it," Shinn said resolutely, skirting around her and taking off down the corridor again. Kika heaved a sigh and righted herself.

Shinn continued down the corridor towards his room alone, shaking his head. Kika was interested in him, but he didn't know why; she was relentless in her efforts to pry into him and get to know him better. He wondered if she had some kind of ulterior motive. She was friendly, and she didn't seem to be trying to hurt him or cause him problems, but that didn't answer any of his questions.

He blinked in surprise as he saw Stella and Miki coming down the corridor towards the door of his and Stella's room.

"Shinn!" Stella exclaimed, rushing towards him and hugging him. Shinn looked at Miki in confusion.

"I took Stella out to get breakfast," Miki said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "Hope you don't mind."

Shinn looked back questioningly at Stella. "Miki's nice!" Stella exclaimed happily. Shinn blinked again and looked back at Miki; she shrugged back.

"Um, okay," Shinn said blankly.

"You shouldn't keep her cooped up in there all the time," Miki added, crossing her arms, trying to look authoritative and failing because she was about a foot shorter than Shinn. "It's not healthy."

"Stella's been through a lot of things that aren't healthy," Shinn said, arching an eyebrow inquisitively. Miki paused, and then sighed in defeat, looking down at the floor.

"But still," she began, and said nothing more.

"Miki is Stella's friend," Stella said earnestly, looking at Shinn. Shinn smiled back.

"I know, it's okay," he said. "I guess you need friends too."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, orbit of the Moon**

Standing on the bridge of the _Girty Lue_, Neo stroked his chin in thoughtfully, reading the reports as they scrolled by on the screen. In his chair, Lee read them as well.

"So Stella's a pirate now," Neo said conclusively.

"So the rumors say," Lee put in. Neo sat down in his chair and sighed.

"This will complicate things," he said. "The _Minerva_'s attacked that pirate ship once, and they're gearing up to do it again."

"It's not a fast ship," Lee added. "We would be able to catch up to it."

"We would," Neo agreed gravely, "but that kid in the Impulse beat us once before. He'd probably do it again." He scowled. "Damn you, Shinn Asuka."

"He's a formidable opponent," Lee said with a hint of approval. "I see why ZAFT wants to take him down."

Neo stood up. "We'll follow the _Minerva_, and see how they fare," he said. "Depending on how they do, we'll sweep in and take a stab at those pirates again." He glanced at Lee. "Keep the Mirage Colloid up and follow the _Minerva_."

"Yes sir," Lee answered neutrally.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 19th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, near Copernicus, the Moon**

Shinn Asuka sighed as he zipped up his flight suit. The _Kasselheim _had almost made it to Copernicus without event, both within and without, but the _Minerva_ had finally caught up with them. The _Minerva_ was back; here, in front of Copernicus, the _Kasselheim_ and the _Minerva_ would duel once again. Rey was back; Shiho was back; Luna was back. He would have to face them again.

"Hey, Shinn," Gan said as she closed the seals of her helmet. "Pay attention."

Shinn glanced at her with an arched eyebrow.

"We have a plan this time," George said as he closed his visor. He went over to a screen on the wall and activated it; a panorama of Copernicus and the space around it appeared. "The ship is heading for the ruins of a colony that was destroyed in the Valentine War and crashed onto the lunar surface. We'll go play with your friends there."

Shinn nodded mutely and strapped his helmet on. He turned and entered the hangar without a word, strapping himself into the Impulse's cockpit.

He closed his eyes; they were back again. He would have to fight Rey again, listen to his screaming accusations, defend his friends again.

Shinn opened his eyes; the Impulse stepped onto the catapult.

"Shinn Asuka, Impulse...going out!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Inside the Blast Impulse, a twisted scowl slithered onto Ruumari Star's face.

"That traitor will die today!" he shouted, firing the Blast Impulse's booster.

"Ruumari!" Shiho shouted from the Savior. "Don't break—goddammit, what the hell is his problem?!"

"Aoma and I will keep an eye on him," Luna offered from her ZAKU. "Since we know he'll be after Shinn."

"Roger," Shiho answered in annoyance. "Rey, you and I will go after the other mobile suits. The _Rutherford_'s mobile suits will attack the pirate ship."

Rey nodded silently, his face dark with hatred. Shiho looked back wearily at the _Kasselheim_, as its mobile suits had launched. She hoped that someone would take Shinn down this time—he was engendering too much hatred and drama to be alive any longer.

Inside the Force Impulse, Shinn magnified the image and found the Blast Impulse rocketing towards him as fast as its thrusters could carry it. He glanced up ahead, finding the wreckage of the colony nearby. The Blast Impulse fired its weapons at him; Shinn dodged easily and took off towards the colony.

"Stop running!" Ruumari shrieked, blasting off after the Force Impulse.

"Ruumari! Stop!" Aoma shouted. "He's leading you into a trap!"

"Like he cares," Luna snorted disgustedly; her ZAKU and the Sword Impulse took off after the Blast Impulse.

Shinn glanced over his shoulder, finding the Blast Impulse charging after him. He boosted up towards the wreckage and looked around tensely. The wreckage was enormous, clearly ideal for a mobile suit battle, but it would take all of his skill not to fall victim to the same trap he was leading the ZAFT suits into.

Ruumari fired another full blast that Shinn easily ducked under. The blasts slammed into the colony wreckage, and something began to explode; Shinn used the explosion as a cover to escape into the debris. Ruumari shielded his eyes and landed with a curse, looking around furiously.

"Stop hiding, you traitor!" he snarled. "Come on out! You're in here somewhere!" He raised his weapons to open fire.

The Sword Impulse slammed down in front of him, pushing his beam cannons back down. "Stop it!" Aoma shouted.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ruumari screamed back. Luna's ZAKU landed to his right.

"You're just going to make things worse," she said wearily. "We'll have to find him ourselves." The ZAKU turned and cautiously began to walk towards the wreckage.

Ruumari scowled and took off over the Sword Impulse's head, diving into the debris.

Shinn narrowed his eyes at the Blast Impulse and dove out from behind cover, firing his beam rifle. The Blast Impulse lurched back behind his shield, but not before a beam blast from the Force Impulse blew its beam rifle out of its hand. Ruumari cursed and fired back with the Blast Silhouette's weapons.

"Go to hell, traitor!" he screamed. "I'll take you down one way or another!"

Shinn dove beneath the Blast Impulse's shots and rocketed up into its face. Ruumari pulled back, drawing the Blast Impulse's beam javelins, and charged again; Shinn scowled and drew a beam saber, and the two Impulses slammed together with a crash.

"All those ZAFT troops you killed! I'll take revenge for them all!" Ruumari screamed. He tried to kick the Force Impulse in the stomach; Shinn caught the blow with his shield and kicked the Blast Impulse in the face, sending it staggering back. Before Ruumari could recover, he slashed the beam javelin in half; Ruumari threw the sparking remainder of one javelin away and charged with the remaining half.

Shinn narrowed his eyes and kicked the beam javelin out of the Blast Impulse's hand—before it could react, Shinn severed the Blast Impulse's right arm at the elbow, and knocked it to the ground with a kick to the chest. Shinn raised his saber for a killing blow—

A pair of beam boomerangs came slicing down at him; Shinn cut them both in half and looked up in surprise. The Sword Impulse came flashing down towards him, anti-ship swords upraised. Shinn ducked aside from their blow and kicked the Sword Impulse in the stomach, knocking it to the Blast Impulse's side. He switched to his beam rifle and raised it, but a beam cannon blast smashed into the ground before him, and he leapt backwards in surprise. A red Gunner ZAKU Warrior landed with a crash in front of the two Impulses, pointing its beam cannon at the Force Impulse.

"Not today, Shinn," Lunamaria said, glaring at Shinn. "Aoma, get Ruumari out of here before he blows an artery."

The Sword Impulse took off with the damaged Blast Impulse. Shinn narrowed his eyes at Luna's ZAKU.

"Why'd it have to come to this, Shinn?" she asked. "Weren't we friends? Didn't that mean anything to you?"

"That's why I told you not to get in my way," Shinn said harshly. "I promised you I wouldn't hurt you. Don't make me go back on that promise."

Luna flinched at his words, but held her ground. "Would you really?" she asked. "Would you throw away our friendship, forsake the times we had together, and kill me, just to protect Stella? I don't believe you would."

The Impulse raised its beam rifle and pointed it at the ZAKU's chest. Shinn scowled.

"Do you want to bet your life on that, Luna?" he asked.

Luna's eyes widened in disbelief. "Y-You're serious!" she exclaimed.

"Lunamaria, get back!" a voice screamed; a beam blast came down in front of the Impulse, and Shinn rocketed away as Rey's ZAKU Phantom slammed down between Luna's ZAKU and the Impulse. The ZAKU Phantom raised its beam rifle and opened fire; Shinn pulled back behind his shield.

"Rey!" Luna exclaimed. "What are you—"

"If you won't take him down, I will!" Rey snapped. "Go back to the _Minerva!_"

Without waiting for Luna's answer, the ZAKU Phantom drew a beam tomahawk and hurled it at the Impulse. Shinn batted it away with his shield and fired back with his beam rifle; the ZAKU Phantom ducked aside from the Impulse's shots and fired back.

"You couldn't turn me into a Newtype super-soldier, so you'll kill me instead?!" Shinn screamed, taking off over Luna's ZAKU as Rey's ZAKU skimmed over the lunar surface. "Is that how it's going to be, Rey?! I'll kill you too if you make me!"

Rey scowled and fired back with his beam rifle; the Impulse ducked beneath the ZAKU's shots and raised its rifle to return fire. A moment later, it lurched to the side to dodge a beam cannon blast from Luna's ZAKU Warrior.

"We won't take your actions lightly, Shinn!" Luna shouted; she fired again, and Shinn ducked beneath another blast. "We won't let you be just like that! What you did is too serious!"

Shinn growled a curse under his breath and pulled back behind his shield as Rey showered the Impulse with beam rifle fire. He dove behind a pile of wreckage; Rey's shots slammed uselessly into the wreckage, and a pall of smoke rose over the battlefield.

"Stop running, Shinn!" Rey shouted, landing with a crash. "Stop running and face your destiny!"

The ZAKU took off with a beam rifle shot; Luna's ZAKU Warrior followed it up with a beam cannon blast, and behind another piece of colony wreckage, the Impulse dove away from an exploding piece of ruined machinery.

"You have no choice!" Rey cried, as the ZAKU Phantom leapt into the air and released a swarm of missiles on the Impulse. "You can't escape yourself! You are a Newtype! Accept it!"

"Not if it's just going to make me suffer!" Shinn shouted back, cutting down Rey's missiles with a CIWS burst. He fired off another rifle shot to force the ZAKU back and lunged back into the wreckage.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Zora bit back a curse as her GuAIZ rattled, beam blasts pounding against its shield. She ignited the beam claw and stabbed forward as her foe made the mistake of slackening its fire— only to come crashing up against her enemy's shield.

The Savior Gundam, it seemed, was a far tougher foe than she had thought.

George's CGUE dropped in from above with a devastating overhead slash— the Savior rocketed aside and opened fire with its beam cannons again, putting George back on the defensive. As he did, he returned fire with his shield-mounted Vulcan guns, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off the Savior's crimson armor.

"That Phase Shift armor must be pretty cool stuff," George grunted— the CGUE ducked aside again as the Savior returned fire with its beam rifle. Zora charged, beam claw raised high, but the Savior somersaulted over her head. George stopped it from firing at the GuAIZ's back with a beam rifle blast, and Zora wheeled around, activating her extensional arrestors to clamp onto the Savior's rifle and tear it free, hurling it into space.

The Savior answered by firing its beam cannons, forcing Zora to dive over the blasts. George's CGUE charged again to distract the unstoppable red machine, ramming it with his mobile suit's shoulder. The Savior drew a beam saber from its own shoulder and brought it down with a crash on the CGUE's shield.

"Well, whoever this guy is, he earned his wings," George grunted. "He's not in FAITH for nothing!"

"Shinn's going to be the death of us," Zora snapped. "Distract it, and I'll hit it from behind!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Beam rifle shots slammed into the wreckage around him, followed by another storm of missiles. Taking cover behind his shield, Shinn dove aside as a beam cannon burst tore across the battlefield. As more wreckage began to explode, Shinn saw the repaired Blast Impulse Gundam slammed down onto the lunar surface.

"You goddamned traitor!" Ruumari screamed. "You sold us out to the Naturals at Arzachel!"

He fired another beam cannon burst; Shinn dove aside again and took cover behind the wreckage. Ruumari followed with a scream; another beam rifle shot tore towards the Force Impulse, and Shinn deflected it with his shield. The Sword Impulse Gundam blasted into the fray with its combined anti-ship sword and swung towards the Force Impulse. Shinn batted its blade aside with his shield and pulled back.

"Ruumari, stop chasing him!" Aoma shouted. "He has the upper hand!"

"Go to hell, Aoma!" Ruumari shrieked. "I'll tear his head off!"

The Blast Impulse fired again; Shinn ducked aside, and the blasts tore into a heap of ruined machinery. As the wrecked machines began to explode, the Force Impulse jumped into the air and dislodged a massive shaft from the colony's mirrors from its grave in the lunar dust. Shinn kicked the shaft down towards the Blast Impulse; Ruumari desperately raised the Blast Impulse's shield, and grunted in pain as his mobile suit rattled under the impact. With a scream, he threw the shaft aside with sheer brute strength, and turned his eyes towards the Force Impulse—

An instant later, he screamed in pain as the Force Impulse delivered a devastating kick to the Blast Impulse's chest. The Blast Impulse went flying back, slamming Ruumari into the cockpit, and as his helmet cracked open and blood burst out, his eyes closed and he faded into unconsciousness.

"Ruumari!" Aoma shouted in disbelief. The Sword Impulse landed in front of the fallen Blast Impulse, and turned towards the Force Impulse.

Shinn narrowed his eyes; the Sword Impulse fired its beam rifle again, but Shinn skirted to the side and knocked down another metal shaft. The Sword Impulse cut the shaft in half with its anti-ship sword and fired back up at the Force Impulse—Shinn clenched his teeth and used the Force Impulse's foot to pull up a wrecked piece of machinery, blocking the beam shot. As the machine began to explode, Shinn kicked it back down into the Sword Impulse's face. The Sword Impulse staggered back; Aoma grunted and abandoned her beam rifle as it sparked ominously, and hacked the fireball apart with her swords.

The Force Impulse was upon her instantly with a kick to the Sword Impulse's face. The Sword Impulse stumbled backwards; Shinn kicked it in the stomach, and Aoma grunted as the Sword Impulse crashed to the ground. She swung her shield up to deflect Shinn's finishing beam rifle shot, and jumped up into the air over his head to shower him with CIWS fire.

"I don't care who you are!" Aoma cried. "I won't let you hurt my friend!"

A cloud of missiles slammed into the ground around the Force Impulse as the Sword Impulse landed with a powerful overhead sword slash. Shinn dove away from the Sword Impulse, looking up anxiously into the black sky. The _Nazca_-class was descending on the battlefield, pouring missiles and beam cannon fire into the wreckage. It was spewing smoke and flames, and covered in ugly scars and burns. Shinn pulled back behind his shield, as the Sword Impulse seized the fallen Blast Impulse and took off again.

Shinn glanced over his shoulder, finding another metal shaft behind him. He dove backwards and leapt up; with a shriek of metal, he kicked it down towards the _Nazca_. The ship turned its guns on the falling metal shaft, but it was too late—the shaft smashed lengthwise onto the ship, crushing the guns next to the bridge. The _Nazca_ began to list towards the lunar surface. Shinn charged—Luna's ZAKU Warrior and Rey's ZAKU rose on the side to open fire. He ducked through their shots and fired his beam rifle.

The _Nazca_'s bridge exploded—Shinn took cover behind his shield as the rest of the ship began to meet a fiery death. He landed on the lunar surface with a slam; the ZAKUs landed nearby.

"How many more of your old comrades will you kill, Shinn?" Rey asked callously. Shinn scowled back.

"However many it takes for you to leave me alone," he said back.

Rey's face twisted into a hideous scowl, and the ZAKU Phantom charged, drawing a beam tomahawk—Shinn's eyes narrowed at the approaching mobile suit. They met with a crash; the ZAKU Phantom slammed its tomahawk down against the Impulse's shield.

Shinn screamed; the Impulse used its shield to force the ZAKU back, and with an angry yell, Shinn raised his rifle and drilled a shot through the ZAKU's left shoulder. As the ZAKU's left arm spiraled away, Shinn charged and slammed the ZAKU with a kick to the face. The crippled ZAKU staggered back; Luna's ZAKU caught it before it could collapse.

In the sky above, flashes of light split the darkness; Luna looked up at the _Minerva_'s signal flares, and then looked back at the Impulse.

She scowled and took off with Rey's defeated ZAKU. Shinn watched them go impassively.

At last, he turned and stomped off towards the city of Copernicus.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, near Copernicus, the Moon**

Sting Oakley nodded as he watched the Impulse leave the battlefield, on a screen in the _Girty Lue_'s crew lounge. At the very least, that Shinn guy knew how to fight.

"He sure kicked ass," Auel observed from his place on one of the couches, slathered across its length with a bottle of water. Sting glanced at him for a moment and shrugged.

"At least it's not our asses he's kicking," Sting said. "I guess Stella's in good hands."

Auel glanced at him, puzzled. "What, you're giving up already?" he asked.

"Of course not," Sting answered, crossing his arms and looking steadily at the screen. "But..." He trailed off and shook his head.

"But what?" Auel asked, sitting up. "I thought we were going to pay them a visit inside Copernicus."

"We are," Sting said. "But...well, we want Stella to be safe, right?"

"Yeah," Auel said hesitantly, casting a sideling glance at Sting. "Why?"

"Well, if she's not gonna be around us," Sting said uneasily, "then I guess this guy, Shinn, he can take care of her."

Auel glanced at the screen, and then back at Sting. "I guess so," he said.

Sting took a step back. "At least one of us gets to be happy," he said. He glanced over at Auel. "But our turn's coming too."

Auel smirked back. "Damn right it is."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Copernicus, the Moon**

"It's funny," Luna said in the infirmary of the _Minerva_, arms crossed, staring down at the unconscious Ruumari. "He looks so peaceful when he's had his lights knocked out."

She glanced at Aoma; she was sitting on the bed next to Ruumari's, her uniform shirt draped over her legs, with an icepack over a large and painful-looking purple bruise on her right shoulder. She glanced painfully at Ruumari and sighed.

"He's gonna get himself killed," she said with a sigh. "I don't know why he's like this."

"He told you," Luna said, glancing neutrally at her and then looking back at her. "He wants to prove himself."

Aoma blinked and looked back at Luna. "He wants to prove himself?"

"You two were stuck on Maius 5, right?" Luna asked. "He wants to prove that he's worthy of being a ZAFT Red." She paused, and then smiled amusedly. "Though I'm not sure who he's trying to prove himself to."

Aoma blinked again in surprise at Luna's amused look, and looked at Ruumari, blushing. "Wha—we're not like that!"

"Whatever," Luna said with a dismissive smile. She uncrossed her arms. "I have work to do, so give me a holler if you need help getting him to put his bib on."

Aoma sighed dejectedly as Luna left.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Copernicus, the Moon**

Unlike New Haven, even from the vantage point of the _Kasselheim_'s port observation deck, Copernicus was beautiful. There were twinkling lights everywhere, forming an eerily beautiful panorama across the mottled gray surface of the Moon.

George stood on the observation deck with Zora, staring down at it all. Zora crossed her arms and glanced at George.

"What are we doing here?" she asked. George glanced back at her.

"Upgrade the ship's engines so we can stay ahead of the _Minerva_," he said.

"That's not what I meant," Zora said, shaking her head. "I mean about Shinn."

George arched an eyebrow and looked back at the city. "Viima wants him gone," he said. "But she hates newcomers anyways."

"I know," Zora said. "He's a good pilot, but he's got too much baggage with him."

"We all have baggage," George said. "You have your fair share too."

"But the Freedom Gundam has never come after us because I'm here," Zora answered, looking at George. "The _Minerva_ is only chasing us because Shinn is with us. If he were to leave, then the _Minerva_ would _stop_ chasing us."

George sighed heavily. "Poor Shinn," he said. "On one side, he's got Kika, who wants to be his friend. And on the other, he's got Viima, who wants him gone. Hasn't he done a good enough job as a pilot for us?"

"I'm not denying his skill," Zora said, crossing her arms and looking back out at the city. "All I'm questioning is the wisdom of keeping him around on this ship."

"There's questions to be had of the wisdom in pretty much everything," George said, shrugging.

Zora was quiet for a moment. "Are you going to take him out into the city?" she asked. George nodded. "Is there a dark side to Copernicus too?"

George stared grimly at the city. "Shinn will have to learn. Wherever there's light, somewhere nearby, there's going to be a shadow."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	24. Phase 24: Through Different Eyes

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 24 - Through Different Eyes

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 20th, CE 73 - Copernicus, the Moon**

Unlike the New Haven port, the Copernicus port was clean. It was also free of dirty, curled-up objects that looked suspiciously humanoid. Shinn appreciated that much of the aesthetics—there was no aura of uncleanness here to weigh down on his shoulders

On the other hand, there was a new aura of fakeness and depressing sterility. Shinn didn't like that anymore than he liked the uncleanness and dirt of New Haven, but at least this was easier to ignore. It was like Orb here. It was sheltered and protected, and he was used to that.

"Jesus Christ," Kika said in annoyance, looking around the cavernous terminal. "It's so freaking shiny in here." She glanced at a strange construct of metal balls and rings in the center of the terminal. "And what the hell is _that?_"

"Copernicus is all about shininess over substance," George said tonelessly. "Shinn should be used to this. Orb's just like it."

Shinn looked to the side in annoyance. He glanced over at Stella, as she blankly looked around at everything. She seemed dazzled and disoriented; Shinn didn't blame her.

"A friend of the captain's is helping us upgrade the engines," George said, as he led his motley crew out of the terminal and the blinding shininess. "For a substantial fee, of course. As for us, we've got things to do."

"Like what?" Shinn asked suspiciously.

"It's a surprise," Kika said with a knowing grin.

Shinn glanced away, frustrated.

The four space pirates made their way towards the closest exit. Across the terminal, behind the subtle protection of a tall marble pillar, Sting Oakley glanced suspiciously over them. Sitting on a nearby bench, Auel Neider sat back, crossing his arms.

"That's definitely Stella," Sting said, looking at Auel. "Shinn was with her, too."

"What're they doing in Copernicus?" Auel asked cautiously, peering around the pillar. Sting looked back at the departing pirates.

"It's a chance to get her back," Sting said. "We'd have to get the Gaia back too, somehow, but once we get Stella, it may be easier."

Auel stood up. "Can't we do it here?" he asked. Sting shook his head.

"Too many people around, and she's got Shinn and those other two with her," he said. "We'll have to separate them first."

Auel cracked his knuckles resolutely. "Then let's go."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Copernicus, the Moon**

"The war is still in a cold phase," Rau's voice said. In his room on the _Minerva_, Rey sat rigidly in his seat, staring attentively at the screen as Rau spoke. "The Earth Alliance attacked the United States of South America the other day, and finished off the African Community and the Kingdom of Scandinavia not too long ago as well."

"I know, sir," Rey said robotically. "What will our orders be?"

Rau sat back in his chair on the screen, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "Now that the Earth Alliance is proficient with mobile suits, ZAFT is faring poorly," he said. "The Chairman is organizing an Earth invasion force, but it probably won't get far. The Earth Alliance is not to be trifled with this time." He paused again. "They're killing off the neutral countries and ZAFT's terrestrial allies first. It won't be long before they can focus all their firepower on the PLANTs."

Rey was silent a moment. "Does that mean we've won?"

Rau smiled. "Not yet," he said, '"but we're on our way."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Copernicus, the Moon**

Shinn had to admit that Copernicus was a lot like Orb. As he wandered down the street, absently following George and Kika, he found himself looking around skeptically. Orb had failed him—they had provided a shiny facade for him to hide behind, but in the end, the Earth Alliance had swept it away and thrown him out into the harsh, cold reality. Now he was back among the shining skyscrapers and the sleek, modern metropolis, but the Earth Alliance's mobile suits had taken away their luster. The bright lights had blinded him, but he had spent time out of them, and now he could see.

And now that he could see, Shinn noticed the ubiquitous presence of armed soldiers in olive-green uniforms on the streets of Copernicus. He remembered his history classes in Orb; he saw again the grainy videos in darkened classrooms, with blurry images of soldiers, servants of the parochial rulers, clashing in the streets with the youthful, the naive, the idealists who wanted change. Those who wanted the same thing beat down the people who stood out and wanted something different. The people learned not to demand change, because the side that didn't want change had all the guns. They stopped rioting in the streets. They went back to their fields and factories, and returned to their impoverished lives, the lives they knew they couldn't continue to tolerate. But they tolerated it anyways. And once again, there was order.

Order. Shinn remembered Orb. There was order in Orb. There was a well-equipped, efficient, well-funded police force. And yet there was plenty of disagreement. Uzumi Nala Athha's policies polarized the country. Shinn remembered the debates and the arguments and the fights. There were even protests...but then there were Orb's police, to sweep in and clear everyone out. They had everything under control, they said. The people who protested Uzumi's isolationist policy were swept away—order returned. In the end, there was always order.

Shinn wasn't sure why, but he suddenly began to feel nervous.

"Rocco?" Kika said, as Shinn tuned back into her conversation with George. "Who the hell names their kid that?"

"Eh, doesn't really matter," George answered with a shrug. "Anyways, he hangs out with the drug dealer crowd out on James Street."

Shinn felt his stomach turn at the mention of drug dealers. George glanced over his shoulder at Shinn suspiciously.

"Don't worry about him," he said reassuringly. "He sells the rankest weed I've ever smelled, but he's not a bad guy."

Shinn looked away, unconvinced. George sighed.

"Let me put it this way," he said, slowing his stride to walk next to Shinn. "He doesn't rape women. He doesn't murder people unless they do something to provoke him. He doesn't steal unless he has to. If you want pot, you go to him and buy it. Sure, he'll pinch a little now and then, but hey, no big deal. That's how he makes his living." He shrugged again. "Besides, he's not an asshole. He just does what he has to do to survive. It's what we all do."

"We've dealt with worse people," Kika added, glancing at him and shrugging herself. "If you think a pot dealer is bad, never go into that room on the third deck of the _Kasselheim_ with the yellow stripes on the door."

Shinn blinked. "Why, what's in—"

"Don't ask," George said quickly, glancing questioningly at Kika. "Don't tell him that. He'll flip out."

"He's probably never seen anything like it before anyways," Kika said with a giggle. George sighed in frustration.

"At any rate," he said, "Rocco's not such a bad guy. You'll see."

Shinn looked away again, still unconvinced, and glanced over at Stella, as she silently took in the fake shininess of Copernicus.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly. Stella looked at him in confusion for a moment. She nodded slowly.

"...it's bright," she murmured, looking around again. Shinn nodded himself.

"It'll be okay," he said. "We won't be in the lights for too long."

Stella stared blankly at him, and paused for a moment before she nodded uncertainly.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Copernicus, the Moon**

Rey Za Burrel was already on the _Minerva_'s observation deck when Aoma entered. She paused in surprise, and opened her mouth to speak, but something about his appearance strangled the words in her throat.

Rey was hunched over the railing, staring intently at Copernicus. The traitor Asuka was in there, somewhere, but Captain Gladys had elected not to try to dock at the city. Instead, the _Minerva_ was hovering insistently at the edge of the Copernicus's territory, patiently waiting for the _Kasselheim_ to leave. And Rey was waiting here, on the observation deck, watching the city, waiting as patiently as the _Minerva_ for another chance to confront the traitor. Aoma couldn't see his face, but the look of his body, coiled and ready to strike, made Aoma wonder if she wanted to.

Rey glanced at her regardless; Aoma felt a chill wash over her as she was caught in the unforgiving gaze of a single steely blue eye.

He looked back at the city. "What is it?" he asked, his voice calm and quiet. Aoma fumbled for words.

"N-Nothing," she said awkwardly. "I...I just came here for a break."

Rey was silent. Aoma looked around helplessly, but she and Rey were the only ones here.

She turned to speak to Rey again, but now that he had acknowledged Aoma's presence once, he was not going to continue to acknowledge it. He had returned to his vigil—Aoma couldn't bring herself to interrupt it.

She glanced towards the city herself. She had been sent here on the High Command Council's orders, to pilot an Impulse unit and replace the mobile suit slot previously used by the ex-hero, the traitor Asuka. She had been sent here to help the _Minerva_ track down the traitor and bring him to justice. She followed her orders, because that was what she joined ZAFT to do. She knew how to fight, and she fought, but she was no planner or leader. She could only carry out orders; she could not give them. This was why she was content with her position as a pilot—here she could fight, and make a palpable difference. Here she could actually roll up her sleeves and defend her homeland. Here she could do something.

And so she was on this ship, fighting the traitor Asuka, and trying to keep Ruumari in one piece in spite of himself. He was still sleeping off his concussion—albeit after the _Minerva_'s medical crew had pumped him full of tranquilizers to _make_ him sleep it off. She kept him from getting himself killed, and tried to bring down the traitor. She did it because those were her orders.

Aoma looked at Rey. He was a ZAFT soldier too, bound by rule and regulation to follow the orders of the High Command Council. He was like Ruumari in his conviction to confront and defeat Shinn. But why? Had they been friends? Had Rey taken Shinn's treachery as something personal?

She opened her mouth to speak again, but Rey did not move—the words died again, and Aoma turned and sullenly left the room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Copernicus, the Moon**

Rocco, as it turned out, seemed to have recently pinched a lot more than "a little" of his narcotic supply. Shinn, however, didn't immediately notice, because James Street wasn't nearly as shiny and bright as the rest of Copernicus. This was a back street that few people went down. As he drew Stella closer to him, Shinn could see why.

Rocco met them in a narrow, grimy alley leading out of the street. At the end of the streets and alleys, Shinn could see the light from the shiny fronts of the buildings...but now they were in the dark shadows behind the buildings, the parts that Copernicus's authorities and officials didn't want people to see.

"George! How the fuck ya doin' man?" Rocco exclaimed, leaping to his feet, his raggedy clothes swirling around him like a tornado as he seized George in a bear hug. "What the fuck you doin' on Copernicus, huh?"

"Looking for work," George said as Rocco released him. "I heard there's a fellow with the Junk Guild in Copernicus. Where is he?"

"Who, Robby?" Rocco asked blankly. "Oh yeah, Robby! Yeah, he was over at Main and Madison the other day!"

George arched an eyebrow. "Main and Madison?" he echoed. "What was Robby doing there?"

"You should've seen it man!" Rocco exclaimed. "He comes in there and starts fuckin' namin' off bitches' names like he's at fuckin' McDonald's! It was nuts man!"

"Is 'Main and Madison' what I think it is?" Kika asked suspiciously. George nodded.

"Even on Copernicus," he said. "Where is Robby staying? I've heard about a job offer from the Junk Guild that I'd like to look into."

"Ah shit, man, I dunno," Rocco said disappointedly. "Thought he was stayin' at the Four Towers."

"The Four Towers," George repeated with a nod. "Thanks Rocco. I'll get you a drink next time I've got some downtime."

"Aw, sweet, man," Rocco said, giving George a powerful pat on the back. "You take care of yourself, ya hear me?"

As George went through the typical human process of saying goodbye, Shinn glanced at Kika. She had her weight resting on one leg, standing off to the side, looking bored. She glanced back at him inquisitively.

"What is it?" she asked. Shinn blinked and shook his head.

"It stinks," Stella said quietly, looking around herself. Shinn took her hand possessively.

"We'll be out of it soon," he said gently. "But it _does_ stink."

Kika sniffed the air indifferently. "It's just weed," she said with a shrug. "You get used to it after a while."

Shinn looked away from Kika awkwardly. Of course _she_ would be used to it. She was used to all of this mess.

"Okay," George said as he approached the three, "we have an address. Let's go."

——————————————————————————————————————————

"So," Neo's voice said, tinny and soft through Sting's cell phone, "the pirates are here to resupply."

"They're replacing the engine on their ship," Sting said. "They'll be here for a few more days at least."

"Good," Neo said. "We have a longer opportunity to capture Stella, then. Continue as planned."

Neo hung up; Sting snapped his phone shut and squirreled it away in his coat. At his side, as they both strolled down the Copernicus streets, Auel sighed airily.

"What _is_ Neo doing, anyways?" he asked. "Since we were the ones sent here to play hide-and-seek with Stella."

"Neo's probably doing whatever he usually does," Sting answered noncommittally.

"Which is...?" Auel trailed off.

"I don't know, piss off the captain and masturbate to pictures of Lord Djibril?" Sting shot back. Auel made a disgusted face. "You'd think for as freaking weird as she is, Stella would be easy to find."

"They dressed her up to look pretty inconspicuous," Auel added. "Finding her is gonna be a bitch."

"She's around here somewhere," Sting said conclusively, "and she can't leave for a few more days, so we'll just have to find her before then."

Auel was silent for a moment. "But we'll have to deal with _him_," he said.

"With who?" Sting asked, quirking an eyebrow at Auel.

"With that guy," Auel went on haltingly. "The Impulse guy. Shinn."

Sting snorted dismissively. "We'll see if he's as scary outside a mobile suit as he is in one."

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**Office of the Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council, Aprilius 1, PLANT, Lagrange Point 5**

Gilbert Dullindal stared indifferently at the footage on his office's main screen. He saw the Atlantic Federation blasting apart the Svalbard Islands, the last bastion of the defenders of the Kingdom of Scandinavia. The Atlantic Federation had reduced the islands to ashes; the Kingdom of Scandinavia was now utterly and completely nonexistent.

At Gilbert's side, Horatio Vandemant looked down at his clipboard. "The South Americans have also launched an operation to alleviate the Earth Alliance's attacks on the United States of South America," he said. The screen changed to a mobile suit battle in the South American jungles. Gilbert watched just as impassively as a red Gundam-looking mobile suit with two anti-ship swords attacked the Earth Alliance's Dagger Ls.

"This was all inevitable anyways," Gilbert said dismissively, turning away from the screen. It went dark; Horatio looked down at Gilbert inquisitively, and watched as he stood. "Did you get the Endgame project underway?"

"Yes sir," Horatio answered. "Solomon's Sword should be completed in about a month."

Gilbert looked away, clasping his hands behind his back. "Then you, Horatio, only have to hold the Earth Alliance back for that long," he said. "Once Solomon's Sword is complete, we can evacuate our forces on Earth and let the Sword do its work." He paused. "Thank you, Horatio. You are dismissed."

Horatio saluted and excused himself. Gilbert waited until the door closed; he strode over to his computer terminal and brought up a set of schematics. The blueprints flashed across the office's main screen.

Gilbert turned and looked up at the schematics of the Destiny Gundam.

"You'll come back to me eventually, Shinn," he said quietly. "I have power, and without power, you don't mean anything."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Copernicus, the Moon**

"For centuries human beings have made do with the talents they were given!" the man screamed. "Now we have disrupted that time-honored ethic! And yet we wonder why we are embroiled in a world of war and suffering!"

The man was tall, young, thin, gaunt, and scarred. He stood on a bench, in a park in the depths of Copernicus. He was dressed in the ragged brown remains of an Earth Alliance uniform, but his eyes were alight with anger. He pointed vindictively into the crowd, into the air, at anything, as he spoke.

Standing towards the edge of the growing crowd, Shinn glanced to his side uneasily. George and Kika looked unimpressed, and Stella looked confused...but that was no surprise.

"Must be with Blue Cosmos," George said quietly. "I guess they even reach up this far."

"Well, he better say what he has to say quick," Kika said, crossing her arms and glancing over the crowd anxiously. "Looks like the guards aren't amused."

Shinn followed her line of sight, and found a group of the ubiquitous olive-green-coated soldiers shoving through the crowd with drawn rifles.

"People call us terrorists!" the man shrieked, pointing angrily into the air. "They do not understand us! They do not understand that we are fighting to protect them!" Shinn blinked in disbelief at himself, finding him listening intently to the man's words. "The Coordinators are faster, stronger, smarter, better in every way than the Naturals! But who turned their children into Coordinators?! It was the wealthy, the privileged, the ones who already had power! And who remained Naturals?! The poor, the unprivileged, those _without_ power!" The soldiers in the crowd drew closer. "A Natural who seeks to make the most of his talent must work for his entire life, practicing, learning, working, a ceaseless struggle! But what do the Coordinators do?! They alter a few genes and have in a few years the skill and practice of a lifetime! They can have in moments what it takes us years to have! How can we _not_ be angry?!" His eyes flashed vindictively. "_That_ is why we fight! _That_ is why we fight for our blue and clean world!"

The soldiers reached him and dragged him down—he shrieked furiously, thrashing against them. There was a gunshot—

Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief as the crowd surged around one of the soldiers. All he could hear was a shriek of agony. George seized him by the elbow and pulled him away.

A siren went off; in the streets, Shinn could see angry people shouting and throwing rocks, but there were more and more soldiers appearing almost out of nowhere. George dragged Shinn into a darkened alley, with Kika and Stella right behind him. They hid against the wall as the Blue Cosmos sympathizer's angry audience began to spread.

"What the hell is going on?!" Shinn gasped, staring frantically into the seething streets.

George glanced grimly at him. "When I said that Copernicus is like Orb," he said carefully, "I meant it."

Shinn looked back into the street—rocks were flying, and something was being lit on fire. It was a scene from hell, but Shinn couldn't fathom why.

"What's with them, though?" Kika asked. "It was just some Blue Cosmos guy!"

"That's probably not the only reason," George said, peering out around the corner into the street, and ducking back behind cover as a rock smashed through a window with a sickening crash. "Incidents like that are usually the spark for something bigger. This must be about the Junius 7 drop."

"The Junius 7 drop?" Shinn echoed.

George pushed him further into the alley, as Kika and Stella followed. "We'd best get out of here," he said. "Whenever riots like this break out, people start shooting at whoever they want."

A burning car blocked one of the paths back to the ship; Shinn looked around anxiously, but the only recourse in this alley was to backtrack and risk the streets.

"You! Halt!" a voice shouted.

Shinn turned slowly in disbelief, and found two soldiers advancing towards him, toting machineguns. George interposed himself between the soldiers and Shinn.

"We're just trying to get off the streets," George began.

"We'll get you off the streets," one of the soldiers said. "Identification, now!"

"Look, sir, we really don't have time for that," George said as glibly as possible. "We don't—"

"You're coming with us, then," the other soldier said, seizing Stella by the elbow. The first soldier raised his machinegun threateningly—

A chunk of concrete slammed into the barrel of the gun, and it went spinning out of the soldier's hands and skidded along the ground. The soldier looked over in disbelief—a moment later his comrade collapsed backwards with a shriek and a burst of blood out of his chest. The first soldier backed away, but went down with another gunshot to the chest.

Shinn looked over at their saviors—his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Sting! Auel!" Stella exclaimed.

"You know them?" Kika asked in surprise, as she picked up the first soldier's fallen gun. Sting and Auel trained their pistols on the four pirates; Stella's eyes widened in surprise.

As they advanced on the four pirates, Sting glanced urgently at Auel.

"We can't get her back here," he hissed under his breath. "We're in the middle of a riot."

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" Auel hissed back.

"Halt!" another voice shouted. All eyes turned towards a corner down the street—several more soldiers were approaching, rifles drawn.

"_Shit,_" Auel snarled, turning towards them. Sting grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him into the alley with the pirates.

"Stop that!" Sting shouted. "Don't make it—"

Before he could finish, Shinn seized the second soldier's fallen gun and leapt out of the alley, planting himself and firing a vicious spray of machinegun fire at the advancing soldiers. Three of them were killed instantly, but the remaining four ducked behind cover to return fire. Shinn darted back into the alley as shards of concrete went flying.

"Now you've done it!" Kika exclaimed angrily, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him. "You went and pissed them off more!"

"We have some time now," George said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her away. "Let's go!"

"Stella!" Sting exclaimed, as she ran off behind Shinn. Sting glanced in frustration at Auel, and the two Extended took off after her.

Deeper within the alley was a rotting wooden fence. Shinn slammed through it with sheer momentum and continued going. There was another soldier up ahead, but a rock slammed into the side of his head, and he collapsed in a pool of blood. Shinn ducked to the side, pushing Stella to the ground, as George and Kika took cover and another soldier leveled off his machinegun at them. Before he could fire, though, another bullet pierced his head, and he collapsed backwards with a nauseating splatter. Shinn looked over his shoulder in surprise, and found Sting advancing slowly, smoke curling off the barrel of his gun.

"You're just lucky we're both up shit creek right now," Sting said pointedly.

"How come Sting and Auel are here?" Stella asked, glancing worriedly at Shinn as they both got to their feet. Shinn put himself between Sting and Stella possessively.

"They must be here to capture you," he said quietly.

"Well it's not like we can do that _now_," Auel snorted, glancing in annoyance at the streets. Another soldier appeared at the other end of the alley—Sting took him down with a gunshot to the head.

"I don't know who you guys are," George said cautiously, glancing over his shoulder at the seething streets, "but we'd better split up. The more there are of us, the easier it'll be for them to find us."

Auel glanced furtively at Sting. "What should we do?"

Sting hissed a curse under his breath. "We can't get her back now," he growled, "and they know about us, so the element of surprise is lost...goddammit." He took a step back. "We'll have to give up the chance."

Auel looked at Stella. Sting stepped past him and walked up to Shinn, staring cautiously at him.

"Take care of Stella for us," Sting said quietly. Shinn blinked in surprise; Sting ran off, with Auel close behind.

"Neo's gonna be pissed," Auel grunted as they rounded the corner.

"Neo can get over it," Sting hissed back.

As the two Extended disappeared, Shinn glanced awkwardly at Stella.

"They came back for Stella," she said quietly. "...to go back to Neo..."

"You don't have to," Shinn told her earnestly.

"Look, that's real sweet, you two," Kika interrupted, grabbing Shinn by the shoulder, "but can't you save this for another time?"

Something exploded in the street—George picked up a fallen soldier's machinegun and cast a wary glance over the scene.

"We'd better get back to the _Kasselheim_," he said grimly. "They'll be shutting the port down soon, if they haven't already."

Shinn glanced at Stella, uneasily, and they both took off running after Kika and George.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Copernicus, the Moon**

It was dark. That was okay. When there was too much light, the pain became intolerable.

Ruumari Star stared hatefully at the dark blur that looked like the ceiling. His head still hurt. That didn't matter. He could still practice. He could still fight. He could still beat _that guy_.

Aoma had begged the medical staff to keep him drugged and groggy, in order to force him to rest and not continue his practice. He couldn't afford that. He had to fight the traitor, he had to keep fighting him, he had to prove that he had the courage and the skill to deserve his red uniform. But the drugs Aoma had insisted the medical staff pump him full of were doing their job, and so Ruumari remained in the infirmary. It was okay, he tried to tell himself. As a warrior, he had to rest at some point. He didn't want to face the traitor again without sufficient energy to fight him.

Instead, lying in the dark, he saw names and faces and places again.

A year. He had spent a year, no, over a year in the ZAFT Military Academy on December 1. He had left his cozy little suburban home on Januarius 3. He had left his father, a manager at a medical research firm, and his mother, a researcher at an agricultural company, to join ZAFT after the Valentine War. He went with Aoma because he didn't want to go alone. Aoma wanted to join ZAFT as well, so it all worked out. They went together to December 1. They enlisted together, and luck or fate or something had placed them together in many of the same classes. They went through the Academy together.

Ruumari closed his eyes, trying to block out the memories as they quickly went sour. He remembered his pompous, overbearing instructors, and what seemed like their concerted campaign to bring down Aoma and himself. He remembered the other students, the ones who were obviously near the bottom and jealous of the two stars of the class. He suffered their slings and arrows and their thousand shocks, hardening his mortal coil and striving to be the one to wear a red uniform when he graduated. His skills and achievements as a soldier of ZAFT would vindicate him. One day he would be in command of the same pompous bastards who tormented him in the Academy.

And then he remembered graduation. He had made it. He wore the coveted red uniform. He was special; at last, he had risen above his mediocre life and become something unique. He accepted his orders with pride.

And then he read them.

_Guard duty_. They had put him and Aoma on _guard duty_. They were ZAFT Reds, the elite, the best of the graduating class, and yet they were given a pair of old, run-down GINNs that had been decommissioned after the Grimaldi Front and told to guard a warehouse on Maius 5, in the depths of the PLANTs, deep within ZAFT's defense ring. If there was one place that no one would ever be able to infiltrate, it was Maius 5. They were given their crumbling GINNs and told to guard the military warehouse that housed the parts for prototype mobile suits. They had watched a menagerie of bizarre mobile suits and mobile armors roll in and out of that warehouse. They had watched the ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited take shape in that warehouse, and then watched it get blown up at Arzachel Crater. They had watched the war begin. They had watched the traitor murder ZAFT soldiers in his treachery. They had watched _everything_.

But they hadn't done anything.

Aoma had been the one to try to keep him stable during their tour of duty on Maius 5. She insisted that someday ZAFT would send them to the front, someday ZAFT would need them, someday they would find someone else to do this, and until then, they had to endure. Their orders were to guard this warehouse. That was what they had to do.

At last they were reassigned. They trained in the Impulse; they perfected the midair linkup of its parts. Of course they did. They were ZAFT Reds, after all. They were the elite.

And now, finally, Ruumari was on the front lines, fighting the enemy. He was important. He was special.

And yet here he was, lying in the infirmary, wallowing once again in the mud of a defeat handed to him by the traitor Asuka.

He scowled at the ceiling.

Next time would be _different_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Copernicus, the Moon**

"What the hell did you guys _do?!_" Gan screamed as George, Kika, Shinn, and Stella returned to the _Kasselheim_, ragged, sweating, and out of breath. "Copernicus is going up in smoke! Did you run over the mayor's dog or what?!"

"Long story," George panted. "Shut up and let us in."

They filed into the ship; Chris slammed the door shut behind them.

"We'll have to keep the ship on lockdown until this storm has blown over," he said, turning and rushing off down the corridor with Gan.

Shinn slumped tiredly against the wall next to Stella, gasping for breath. He still saw the angry people, the flying rocks, the fire...

"...is Shinn...okay?" Stella asked breathlessly, plopping down next to him. Shinn nodded wordlessly.

"Well," Kika said tiredly, leaning against the wall, "I guess that means we get the rest of the day off."

"The captain is locking the ship down," Gan called from down the corridor. George nodded tiredly and glanced at Shinn.

Shinn looked back at him. "They're monsters," he said quietly.

"No," George said, shaking his head. "They're people."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 24th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Copernicus, the Moon**

"_Kasselheim_, leaving port," Mike announced. "All engines green."

Mev Typhoon sat back in the captain's chair and crossed his arms.

"Once we clear the port, set course for Lagrange Point 2," he said. "We'll look for work there." He glanced out the bridge windows, casting his gaze over the Copernicus port.

"I wonder if the _Minerva_ will attack us," Kika wondered from her station next to Mike.

"ZAFT launched _Spear of Twilight_ yesterday," Yun said confidently. "The _Minerva_ is probably caught up in that."

"How do you know?" Mike asked suspiciously.

"Well, while _you_ were sitting there blasting Metallica all day, _I_ was watching the news!" Yun shot back. "It pays to be informed!"

"Both of you, pay attention," Viima put in harshly, glaring at them both.

Mev sat back.

Spear of Twilight_, huh...?_

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	25. Phase 25: The Yokosuka Bloodhound

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 25 - The Yokosuka Bloodhound

——————————————————————————————————————————

**December 1st, CE 73 - Lagrange Point 2**

"Someone's attacking! We're under attack!"

The Junk Guild transport ship _Whitehall_ was in a panic. There was machinegun fire everywhere around the lumbering modified _Marseille III_-class transport. There were missiles streaking towards it, exploding around the ship and further panicking its crew. The shots were coming from somewhere within all the debris surrounding the ship. And every so often there was a beam rifle shot that seemed to be coming from a mobile suit, but nobody could see the mobile suit that was firing the beams.

The captain clenched his teeth, trying to figure out what was going on.

"The port engine's been hit!" one of the bridge crew cried.

"Captain!" another exclaimed. "At this rate we'll be destroyed!"

The ship shuddered—the bridge crew looked up in horror as something began to cast a shadow over them.

Above them loomed the imposing black form of the Blitz Gundam, pointing its Trikeros down at the bridge..

"That's the Blitz!" one of the bridge crew exclaimed in terror.

Inside the Blitz, a thin, ghostly-looking man in a black ZAFT flight suit smiled, the light flashing across his helmet's tinted visor.

"The Yokosuka Bloodhound!" one of the Junk Guild crew screamed. "It's the Yokosuka Bloodhound!"

Inside the Blitz, Kazuhiro Yokosuka smiled animally.

"Yes, gentlemen," he said quietly. "It's the Yokosuka Bloodhound."

The Blitz fired.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**December 2nd, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Lagrange Point 2**

"Jeez," Miki said with an airy sigh, "that's the fourth freighter in two weeks."

The galley was quiet as all eyes stared up uneasily at the monitor, and the news reports of another Junk Guild transport ambushed by a mysterious mobile suit.

"The reports are unsubstantiated," the anchor said with the usual emotionless drone of a news anchor, "but rumors say that the attacking mobile suit is equipped with Mirage Colloid, rendering it effectively invisible..."

Miki glanced at Stella, sitting next to her.

"What do you think?" she asked. "Do you think there's a mobile suit with Mirage Colloid out there?"

Stella shrugged slowly. Across the table, Mike paused from his concerted campaign to devour another cup of instant ramen.

"Well," he said through a mouthful of starchy noodle substitute, "we're gonna find out." He paused to swallow his mouthful of starchy noodle substitute. "That's our next job."

"What?" Miki asked in surprise. "We're going to find this guy?"

"Find him and take him out," Mike said, articulating his point with his plastic fork. "Junk Guild's paying us big bucks to do it, too."

"But if he's got Mirage Colloid, we might not even be able to _find_ him!" Miki protested. Mike shrugged.

"Eh, we're getting paid well for it, so I guess that's our problem," he said noncommittally, returning to his noodles. "Besides, we all know that it's not gonna be us that'll take him out." He paused to scoop another forkful of noodles out of his cup. "It'll be Shinn."

"...how come it's always Shinn?" Stella asked quietly. Mike blinked in surprise, and Miki looked over at her again. "Shinn always fights..."

"It's what he does best," Miki said awkwardly. Stella looked at her slowly.

"...but Shinn's never happy," she murmured.

Miki looked away uneasily.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Impulse stood silently in the back of the hangar, its dark eyes staring vigilantly forward. It was still pitted and scarred and darkened from its many battles, but the mechanics weren't about to spend their time and meager resources buffing out dents if they didn't have to, and so the Impulse would have to forever go into battle bearing the scars of the last one. The repairs that were needed were done, the CIWS were loaded, the fuel tanks were full, the OS was calibrated and recalibrated...

And yet Shinn still was looking for something to do.

He didn't want to think about what had happened on Copernicus. He didn't want to remember the fire and screams and fighting. He didn't want to remember the _Minerva_, Rey, the Chairman, any of the problems he left behind. He wanted to be busy. If his hands were busy, his mind would have to focus on what his hands were doing, and that would keep it from wandering back to everything.

He stared up at the Impulse. Gilbert had given it to him. He had told Shinn that it was meant for someone "special," whatever that meant. Shinn didn't want to be special. He just wanted...

...wanted what?

"Staring at your Gundam, are you?" a voice Shinn was growing all too accustomed to said. Shinn turned slowly, and found Kika drifting towards him from the corridor. She landed softly and looked inquisitively at him. "Now what's the problem?"

Shinn looked away from her, back at the Impulse. It stared back at him blankly, offering no answers.

"Shinn," Kika said, taking him by the shoulders and turning him around, forcing him to look at her. "I know you're all about being closed off, but at some point you have to realize that you can't just shut your problems out and hope they go away. You have to let other people in and let them help you."

Shinn looked away obstinately once again. "It's nothing," he said neutrally.

"Nothing is always something," Kika shot back. "Shinn, I want to help you. Talk to me."

Shinn looked back at her once again and blinked in surprise. He could feel concern—not from himself, he had no idea what to feel. But from her, he could see in her eyes that she was concerned. She wanted to know. She wouldn't hurt him. She wanted to help him.

"The riot in Copernicus," he said quietly. Kika nodded in understanding, but certainly did not look satisfied. "I'm still thinking about how those people went insane..."

"People do that when they keep suffering and see no hope in the future," she said. "It's not something I'd ever want to see happen to you, though." She paused. "But that's not all of it, is it?"

Shinn blinked again. "Wha—" he began helplessly.

"All this other shit must be on your mind too," Kika went on, "and that's what I'm more interested in. So what's up?"

Shinn dejectedly realized that there would be no hiding anything from her. "The _Minerva_ won't leave me behind," he said. "They've followed me every step of the way." His face darkened for a moment. "Rey has followed me. He won't let me rest. He won't let me put his Newtype ideas behind him."

"Who is Rey anyways?" Kika asked. Shinn fell silent, trying to find words.

"Rey...was my friend," he began haltingly, unsure. Was Rey his friend? Rey had been there to pick him up when he fell, but Rey's solution had not been the right one. Was Rey still his friend? Did that mean he had _betrayed_ Rey?

"And he was the one pushing all this Newtype stuff on you," Kika went on, trying to put the puzzle together, "and you couldn't handle it, and that's why you left?"

Shinn looked away. "Something like that."

Kika put her hands reassuringly on Shinn's shoulders. "You left of your own free will," she said. "You did what you felt was right. You shouldn't have any regrets."

"I don't," Shinn protested. "But...I just don't want to keep having the past chasing me down."

Kika sighed loudly and ruffled his hair with a playful smile.

"Sooner or later they'll give up. You just have to hold out until then," she said. "I know, it sucks, but there's not much else you can do."

Shinn looked away unhappily.

"There never is."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**December 3rd, CE 73 - Lagrange Point 2**

The debris field of Lagrange Point 2 was silent. It was always silent, of course. Several battles in the Valentine War had been fought here, and this was the rumored stalking ground of the Yokosuka Bloodhound. Shinn surveyed the scene coldly from the cockpit of the Impulse Gundam. Somewhere out there, the rumors said, was a mobile suit that used the Mirage Colloid system. Some people called it a ghost from the Valentine War—the Blitz Gundam, one of the Earth Alliance's original prototype Gundams, stolen by ZAFT on Heliopolis, destroyed by the Strike on Earth.  
Shinn, however, didn't believe in ghosts.

"I thought the Blitz was destroyed," Gan said uneasily, as her GINN Assault glanced around the debris field. Chris's 105 Dagger drifted in next to her.

"The Earth Alliance rebuilt their stolen Gundams after the war for testing purposes," he explained, "and tried to ship them off to their new headquarters. Along the way there was a guerilla attack by some people from South America, and somehow the Blitz was lost."

Shinn scowled. It was still battery-powered; it couldn't last forever.

"However," George added, as his CGUE floated past, "all the reports about the Bloodhound's attacks say that the victims are attacked from multiple angles at once." The CGUE's monoeye flicked around, its gaze sweeping over the debris field. "That must mean there's more than one mobile suit involved. Keep an eye out for—"

George never finished, as all hell promptly broke loose.

In an instant, there were machinegun rounds and missiles everywhere. Shinn felt them coming and darted back with a defensive burst of CIWS fire, but the return fire intensified, and Shinn took cover behind his shield.

"Where are they?!" Zora shouted, taking up her beam rifle, only to have it blown out of her GuAIZ's hand by a storm of machinegun fire.

"Just shoot back!" Chris shouted back, opening fire with his own beam rifle and not hitting anything. His 105 Dagger was pelted with machinegun fire, and he abandoned his sparking beam rifle before it exploded.

"They're everywhere!" George grunted, as a wave of machinegun fire buffeted his CGUE and forced it back. "We have to pull back! Contact the ship!"

Shinn blinked in surprise as a flash of realization tore across his consciousness—as the machinegun rounds bounced harmlessly off the Impulse's Phase Shift armor, he stared forward intently, his eyes darting among the flashes of light. They were coming from the same points—they were intermittent—

And there was only one person out there.

Shinn gunned the booster, plowing through the machinegun fire effortlessly.

"Shinn!" Stella exclaimed, taking off to follow him. Miki's GINN High Maneuver II dove into the Gaia's path.

"Don't!" she shouted. "Shinn can handle himself, help us pull back!"

Up ahead, Shinn scowled, lunging away from missiles and swimming against a current of machinegun fire. There was only one enemy up there. But how did he know?

A beam blast jarred his attention; the Impulse skirted to the side and came to a halt. The guns fell silent—Shinn looked up anxiously onto one broken asteroid.

The Blitz Gundam's eyes flashed.

"You're that kid that betrayed ZAFT," the amused voice of the Blitz's pilot intoned ominously. "I didn't expect _you_ to come here and fight me."

Shinn scowled, clenching his teeth around the controls. This was his enemy; this was who he had to fight.

"Not very talkative, are we?" the Blitz's pilot asked with a chuckle. "Allow me to introduce myself. Kazuhiro Yokosuka, the Yokosuka Bloodhound." Shinn almost shuddered as his grin turned feral. "The pleasure's all mine."

The Blitz took off above with a beam rifle blast; Shinn's eyes flashed as the Impulse took off in pursuit. He fired his own rifle after the Blitz; it swept to the side, dodging Shinn's shot, and fired a trio of lancer darts at the Impulse.

"Don't make me laugh!" Shinn snarled, smacking the darts aside with his shield.

"Oh, a big man, are you?!" Kazuhiro laughed, taking off again and squeezing off a shot as the Blitz rocketed up over the Impulse's head. Shinn rolled out of the way and took off after the Blitz. The Blitz abruptly stopped and fired its anchor forward at Shinn; Shinn's eyes flashed again as he batted it aside with his shield and fired a beam rifle shot back at the Blitz. Kazuhiro grunted in surprise and deflected the shot with his Trikeros shield, pulling back and retracting his anchor. The Impulse followed with another beam shot; the Blitz ducked aside again and fired back with its own beam rifle.

"Dammit," Shinn grunted, deflecting the Blitz's shot with his shield.

"Not bad, little boy!" Kazuhiro cackled. "I guess what they said about you is true!" The Blitz rocketed forward, eyes gleaming. "I have the chance to be forever known as the man who took down the great traitor!"

"You can sure as hell try!" Shinn screamed back. The Impulse stormed forward and fired its rifle again, spoiling the Blitz's charge as it leapt aside. It fired back again with its rifle; Shinn fired a shot of his own to cancel out the Blitz's blast. "You're just some little outlaw! You don't scare me!"

"Oh, but I will!" Kazuhiro laughed; the Blitz drew a beam saber in its left hand and charged again. Shinn switched to his own saber and charged back; the Blitz swung its saber down to slice the Impulse in two; Shinn swung his saber out to horizontally spoil the Blitz's slash, and the two Gundams were stuck pushing against each other.

"It must be true after all!" Kazuhiro shouted. "You _must_ be a Newtype!"

Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief. "_What?!_"

The Blitz surged forward, using its saber to shove the Impulse away, and charged at the Impulse as it reeled backwards.

"It all makes sense now!" Kazuhiro screamed. "No wonder you were the Chairman's pride and joy! A little Newtype superman!"

"You bastard!" Shinn growled. "I'm no Newtype!"

The Blitz stormed in for the kill; Shinn struck back and deflected the Blitz's saber stroke with one of his own. The Blitz swung again, aiming for the Impulse's waist; Shinn blocked its slice with his saber again.

"In denial, are you?!" Kazuhiro laughed. "Deny all you want! The truth is the truth!" The Blitz surged again; Shinn pushed back with the aid of the Impulse's thrusters.

"Damn you," he grunted, as the Blitz charged again, pushing the Impulse back.

"I can't let you live!" Kazuhiro shrieked, his eyes bulging. "Someone like you can't just go running around! You have to die! _DIE!_"

The Blitz pulled back and fired its rifle again; Shinn narrowed his eyes and batted the shot aside with his beam saber. The Blitz dropped in on him with another saber slash.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Shinn growled, as the Impulse blazed backwards, dodging the Blitz's saber slash. He showered the Blitz with CIWS fire.

"I'll kill you and take away your power!" Kazuhiro cried. "You don't deserve it! Nobody does!" The Blitz charged again, slamming its saber down against the Impulse's.

"Damn you!" Shinn shouted back. "_I'm not a Newtype!_"

The seed exploded in Shinn's mind's eye; the Impulse surged; Kazuhiro blinked in disbelief as the Impulse pounded the Blitz back with a devastating kick to the face. The Blitz reeled; Kazuhiro threw the Blitz's beam saber to the defense as the Impulse followed up its kick with an overhead beam saber hack.

"I'm an ordinary human being!" Shinn screamed. The Impulse charged again, forcing the Blitz back with a punishing saber blow. "I don't have special powers! I just want to live and protect what I care about!"

The Blitz ducked backwards and charged again, saber pulled back for a counterattack. Shinn screamed as the Impulse swept forward, and with a crash, the Impulse used its shield to smash the Blitz full-on in the face, sending it staggering back.

Kazuhiro shook his head violently and glared at the Impulse.

"If you're not a Newtype," he said quietly, trembling with rage, "then you won't be able to fight back when I do _this!_"

The Blitz vanished.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"They're automated guns," Mev said authoritatively on the bridge of the _Kasselheim_. "Don't worry about them. Just hang back and wait for the mobile suits to report in."

"Shinn's found him!" Kika exclaimed, looking anxiously over her shoulder at Mev. "It's just one mobile suit! But..." She trailed off, looking in disbelief at her displays. "It's the Blitz!"

"The Blitz?!" Mike cried in surprise. "That stolen EAF unit that got destroyed in the Valentine War?!"

"It doesn't matter where it came from," Mev said quickly. "The _Kasselheim_ will hang back and wait for the outcome of Shinn's battle with the Blitz."

"_What?!_" Viima screamed, from her place behind the captain's chair. "Captain, how can you—"

Mev stood up and wheeled around to face her. "Viima, stop questioning Shinn," he snapped. "He has worked and fought for us. Now we will see just how good a pilot he is. Support him as you would support any other member of this ship's crew."

"But captain—" she protested.

"That's an order!" Mev barked, his brow furrowing. The bridge fell silent; Viima looked angrily.

"Yes sir," she murmured. Mev sat back down with an annoyed sigh.

"Captain!" Kika cried nervously. "The Blitz! It's..._gone!_"

Mev's brow furrowed again as he stared out towards the debris field.

_Now is your chance to prove yourself, Shinn_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Where the hell did it go?!" Shinn screamed; he looked around frantically, as the Impulse pulled back.

Kazuhiro cackled gleefully. "I can't be seen!" he screamed. "I can't be heard! I'm perfectly invisible!"

The Impulse rattled; Shinn went flying as the invisible Blitz kicked the unsuspecting Impulse in the face.

"Dammit!" Shinn grunted, struggling to right himself. "He's using Mirage Colloid!"

"Well, little Newtype boy?!" Kazuhiro asked excitedly; the Blitz kicked the reeling Impulse in the back, jarring Shinn inside the Impulse's cockpit. "Can you fight what you can't see?"

"You bastard!" Shinn screamed back, swinging the Impulse's saber wildly. The Blitz was not there; it delivered a punishing kick to the side of the Impulse's head, sending it flying again.

"I'm the perfect ghost!" Kazuhiro shrieked. "Catch me, little Newtype boy! _Catch me!_"

The invisible Blitz fired its anchor, clamping it onto the Impulse's head, and with a scream, Kazuhiro sent the reeling Impulse careening into the side of an asteroid. Shinn grunted in pain as he was slammed backwards into his seat, and the Impulse quaked again as the Blitz stormed in and kicked it in the face, smashing its head back into the rock.

"Bastard!" Shinn screamed again, swinging his saber forward again; the Blitz skirted around him and kicked him in the back again, forcing him back out into the open. Kazuhiro grinned.

"_DIE!_" he shrieked; the Blitz took off and ignited its beam saber, raising it for a killing blow from behind.

Shinn's eyes widened as the familiar sensation of life returned. He looked over his shoulder; he saw an evil shape, dark and terrifying, rising over him. The Blitz's eyes glowed out from inside it; it swept over the Blitz, threatening to envelop him. Shinn felt the familiar pulse of a life, but it was twisted and dark, surrounded by this evil shape. A white bolt of energy split the air in front of him—

The Impulse whipped around and sliced off the Blitz's left arm at the elbow.

Kazuhiro's eyes bulged in disbelief; Shinn screamed as instinct took over, and he thrust his saber forward. It plunged into the Blitz's stomach—Kazuhiro shrieked as he vanished in a blaze of light—

The Blitz Gundam returned to the world with a flash; a moment later, it left with a thunderous explosion.

The Impulse went reeling backwards. Shinn stared in disbelief at the fireball before him. He had sensed the enemy; he had found him, in spite of his Mirage Colloid. He had felt his presence, seen that dark shape rising over them both—

He squeezed his eyes shut as he turned back towards the _Kasselheim_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, near Lagrange Point 2**

Sting and Auel stood awkwardly on one end of the observation deck. Lee stood opposite them, arms crossed, looking out the observation deck's windows into space.

"I understand," he said. "You couldn't recapture Stella, so you let her go."

"We didn't have a choice!" Auel said defensively. "There was the riot going on and everything!"

"I never said I didn't understand," Lee said, looking back at Auel. He blinked in confusion. "This Impulse pilot, Shinn...will he take care of Stella?"

Sting looked out the windows unhappily. "He better," he said, "or I'll rip his fucking head off."

"We can still get her back, can't we?" Auel asked quietly.

Lee glanced at Sting. "Should we?" he asked back pointedly. Sting and Auel looked at each other in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Sting asked cautiously. Lee looked back out the windows.

"Did Stella try to go with you?" he asked.

Auel looked down at the floor. "No," he murmured.

"She stayed with Shinn," Sting said resignedly. "She's left us behind."

"She hasn't left you behind," Lee said, looking back at them both. "She wouldn't do that, because you are her friends. You have always been her friends. You have stood by her side and protected her with actions, not words, when Neo would only say he would protect her. She has simply left here and gone to a place where she is no longer under Neo's control." He paused. "Shinn will take care of her...won't he?"

Sting nodded hesitantly.

"Then that should be all that matters," Lee said quietly.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Lagrange Point 2**

Kika found Shinn in the starboard observation deck, pounding his fists angrily against the railing, and very nearly sobbing. He hadn't bothered to change out of his flight suit; he was hunched over like he had been stabbed, as if he were trying to twist the railing with the sheer force of his emotion. And knowing how emotional he was, that was a very real possibility.

Kika immediately rushed to his side and seized him by the shoulders.

"Calm down!" she shouted at him; she immediately fell silent, though, as she saw his face. His face was haggard, streaked with tears; his eyes were dull, lifeless, and desolate; he was obviously a broken soul. It was frightening, terrifying, as he stared at her in disbelief. "Jesus, Shinn," she said, turning him around to back him against the railing and keep him from going anywhere. "What _happened_ to you?"

Shinn looked away angrily, tears flying around his head. "You wouldn't understand!" he shouted. "Nobody would!" He tried to wrench himself out of her grip, but she held fast. "You can't understand what it's like to have this power!"

"So what if I can't understand?" Kika yelled back. "That doesn't mean I can't help you!"

"And what can _you_ do?!" Shinn snapped.

Kika promptly silenced him with a slap across the face. Shinn blinked in disbelief as another cloud of tears went flying around him.

"Goddammit, Shinn, why are you being so dense?!" she shouted in his face. "What do I have to do to make it clear to you that _I fucking care about you?!_" She shook him violently, glowering at him. "Now _talk to me!_ I'm sick of sitting here watching you self-destruct because of this crazy idea some damn politician came up with and stuffed your head full of! You never tell me anything, you never let me in, you just keep feeding me the same bullshit about the _Minerva_ and Newtypes! I'm not falling for that anymore! _I WANT TO HELP YOU!_"

Shinn blinked helplessly. "K-Kika..."

"What kind of human are you if you're just going to shut out the people you need?!" Kika went on angrily. "Do you really think you can get everything from Stella?! You're a human being, Shinn! Like it or not, you can't go through life alone! You can't just deal with all your problems yourself! You need me, Shinn! Now stop playing dumb and let me help you!"  
Shinn stared at her in disbelief for a moment, his eyes wavering. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out.

"What happened when you were fighting the Blitz out there?" Kika asked, prodding for an answer. Shinn opened his mouth again, but again something stopped him from speaking. "_Please_, Shinn, talk to me, let me help you. I'm sick of watching you fall apart because you won't let anyone help you." She put a hand to his cheek, passing her thumb over the three scars on his face, and sighed unhappily. "Shinn—"

"I could feel him," Shinn murmured quietly, staring forward blankly, almost like Stella. Kika blinked in surprise, but before she could say anything, he went on. "I saw a shape...an evil shape...I felt him..."

His eyes widened for a moment, and then he buried his face in Kika's shoulder and sobbed. Kika blinked again, and instinctively wrapped him protectively in her arms.

"Dammit!" Shinn screamed, muffled by Kika's shoulder, as he gripped her arms tightly and sobbed. "I can't get away from it! I left the _Minerva_ to leave this Newtype shit behind and _I CAN'T GET AWAY FROM IT!_"

"Shinn—" Kika began.

"Is this what my life is supposed to be?!" Shinn shrieked, staring at her with wide, clouded eyes. "He challenged me! He told me that if I wasn't a Newtype, I wouldn't be able to beat him if he cloaked! _I BEAT HIM!_ I have these powers that I don't want, because they just bring me suffering! But I can't get rid of them!" He buried his face back in her shoulder, sobbing again. "I can't live like this, Kika! I can't fight like this! How can I fight when I have to face the fear my enemies feel?! How can I fight when I feel the fear _everyone_ is feeling?! How can I protect Stella when I can feel the people I'm protecting her from?!"

"Shinn!" Kika interrupted, pulling him away far enough to look at his bleak, haggard face.

"I don't want it to happen again!" he screamed, his eyes flashing as the tears clouded around him. Kika blinked again. "I want Stella to be safe! I don't want her to die! I want to protect her! I couldn't protect Mayu, but I'll protect her! But I can't do that if I can't even fight the people who want to hurt her!" He shook his head violently, trembling from the force of his emotions. "I left ZAFT for a reason! I left all my friends! I _lost_ all my friends! I lost my home, so I went to ZAFT, and I gave up that home too! I gave up everything for Stella! How can I keep going on trying to protect her when it's so hard to even fight?!"

"_Shinn!_" Kika shouted, shaking him. Shinn snapped out of his screams with wide, bleary eyes. Kika sighed in relief. "Jeez, you _are_ full of issues," she said, shaking her head. She looked into his eyes and touched his cheek again. "You keep acting like you're all alone," she said.

"Who else is going to know how I feel?!" Shinn protested.

"That's not the point," Kika countered. "You aren't all alone. I'm always here to help you."

Shinn's eyes filled with tears, and he collapsed against Kika, sobbing into her shoulder. She put her arms back around him and rubbed his back.

"You've got a lot of grief, and you've kept it all bottled up for two years," Kika said gently as he sobbed. "Just let it out. It'll be okay. I'll be here."

She stood in the hallway with Shinn for a long time.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	26. Phase 26: The Friend of My Friend

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

Phase 26 - The Friend of My Friend

**December 4th, CE 73 - Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Lagrange Point 2**

"We'll have to fight Stella," Auel said quietly.

He sat in the cockpit of the Abyss Gundam, his hand still over the switch to close his visor. He glanced across the hangar at the Chaos—at Sting.

"Of course we will," Sting answered, just as quietly.

"Then what will we do?" Auel asked anxiously. "We can't kill her."

"We'll fight her," Sting said with a hint of authority, "and we'll see what happens."

He glanced meaningfully at Auel; Auel nodded uneasily and looked across the hangar, as Neo climbed into the cockpit of his Windam.

"And what about Shinn?" Auel asked, glancing back at Sting.

"Same thing," Sting said with another shrug. "We'll just have to wing it and hope for the best."

The Abyss stepped onto the starboard catapult. Auel scowled at the sight up ahead; there was a colony with an asteroid attached to the nearer end, and in front of that colony, a ship that Sting and Auel knew all too well.

"The _Kasselheim_, as it's called," Neo began with his usual sarcastic cheer, "has some spiffy new engines. However, we have some spiffier new Windams, and we're going to go take them for a test drive. While we're at it we'll try to capture Stella."

Auel clenched his fists around the Abyss's controls—that fucking Neo _always_ had to take things lightly. 

"Auel Neider, Abyss," he growled, "_launching!_"

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Lagrange Point 2**

Shinn cracked his knuckles as the Impulse Gundam warmed up. Bogey 1 was back—he paused and shook his head, realizing that he was still using ZAFT's designation for Stella's mysterious blue mothership. But it didn't matter. The Chaos and Abyss Gundams would be back...and so would Neo.

"Shinn," Kika's voice interrupted. Shinn glanced down at his screen; Kika smiled at him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Shinn looked away awkwardly. "I told you," he said quietly, "I have to fight for Stella's sake."

"But will you be able to?" Kika asked. Shinn looked back at her, trying to look confident.

"Do I have a choice?" he asked back.

Before Kika could answer, he cut the transmission and stepped onto the catapult.

"Don't overdo it, Shinn," George warned, as his CGUE moved into position behind the Impulse. "They've got those new mobile suits, the Windams."

Shinn scowled up at the thin sparkles of light up ahead. He could feel Neo's presence, and with a sickening feeling of realization, he could feel two more familiar presences...but they didn't feel right, somehow.

A blaze of beam shots slashed through space towards the _Kasselheim_; the ship lurched and slowly heaved out of the way of the blasts. Shinn's eyes flashed.

"Shinn Asuka, Impulse, _going out!_"

The catapult fired and the Impulse rocketed out of the hangar with a flash of exhaust. Shinn clenched his teeth—somewhere out there, Neo was coming for him.

"They have more mobile suits," he grunted, scanning over the elusive Bogey 1's ranks. They had the Chaos and Abyss, plus Neo's purple Windam, six blue and white bazooka-toting Doppelhorn Windams, and ten Dagger Ls. He glanced back at the _Kasselheim_ and felt a surge of energy rise through him as the Gaia took off.

"It's your friends," Shinn said quietly to Stella, as the Gaia fell into formation next to the Impulse, "isn't it?"

Stella nodded slowly, staring forward at the Chaos and Abyss.

"Sting...and Auel," she murmured. Shinn looked back at them.

"I don't want to fight them," he said grimly.

Stella looked at him. "They don't wanna fight Shinn," she added softly. Shinn blinked in surprised and looked back at her.

"They what?" he asked in disbelief. Stella returned her gaze to the charging Alliance mobile suits; Shinn grunted in frustration and gunned the booster. "Well," he muttered to himself, "I know _one_ of you I want to fight!"

The Abyss Gundam opened fire with its shoulder shells; Shinn and Stella darted away from the beam blasts and returned fire with their beam rifles, but the Abyss deflected their shots with its shells and fired back with its chest cannon.

"Shinn! Stella!" Chris's voice shouted, as his 105 Dagger spiraled into the fray and opened fire with its beam rifle. "Distract the Gundams and Windams! We'll take care of the Daggers!"

The Chaos dropped in with a beam rifle blast; Shinn and Stella pulled back behind their shields, and Shinn scowled up at the Chaos as it leveled off its rifle for another shot.

"How are we supposed to distract them?!" Shinn snapped, pushing the Gaia aside as the Chaos fired. 

"The mines!" Zora yelled, as her GuAIZ rocketed over the Chaos's head and fired at the oncoming Daggers. "Lure them into the mines!"

Shinn glanced at the porous asteroid attached to the end of the Neo Shanghai colony. He snarled a curse under his breath and took off towards it with Stella in tow.

"Stella," he said quickly, "we'll have to fight in a close space. Will you be okay?"

Stella nodded slowly, and Shinn glanced anxiously over his shoulder.

Inside the Chaos, Sting scowled as he rocketed after the retreating Impulse and Gaia.

"Dagger squadron, you handle the pirate MS," Neo's voice ordered. "Lee, you handle the ship! Chaos, Abyss, Windam squadron, we're going after the Gundams!"

"Yes sir!" the Windam pilots chorused; the Windams took off after Neo's purple Windam. The Abyss slid into formation next to the Chaos as they both followed.

"Stella's going to fight us," Auel said quietly.

"And we'll wing it," Sting instructed him.

At the mouth of one of the mine tunnels, Shinn turned and watched the Alliance mobile suits approach.

"They fell for it!" he exclaimed in surprise. "What are they planning?"

The Abyss's shoulder shells swung open for another attack, while the Windams leveled off their guns for a barrage of their own. Shinn shoved the Gaia deeper into the mines as the Alliance mobile suits opened fire.

"He's smarter than I thought," Neo grunted. "Follow him into the mines!" His Windam took off towards the asteroid.

"We'll have to split up," Shinn said quickly as he and Stella retreated further into the mines. "Be careful in here, Stella!"

The Gaia vanished in another direction. Shinn dove into the darkness, swiveled around, and clenched his fists around the Impulse's controls, anxiously waiting.

"Gottfried, fire!"

The _Girty Lue_'s Gottfried guns blazed; across the battlefield, on the _Kasselheim_, Mev Typhoon scowled.

"Mike, dodge it!" he instructed. "Yun, get the weapons ready! We'll fight this one ship-to-ship!"

"Captain, Chris says the Impulse and the Gaia have led some of the Alliance mobile suits into the mine!" Kika exclaimed, looking anxiously over her shoulder at Mev.

"Good," Mev said. "Tell Chris to keep the Alliance Daggers busy. We'll take on the mothership."

On the _Girty Lue_'s bridge, Lee watched impassively as the _Kasselheim_ swung around for a return barrage of its own. The missiles streaked forward.

"Igelstellungs, shoot them down!" Lee barked; a storm of CIWS fire picked the _Kasselheim_'s missiles out of the black sky. "Move in and hit them at close range!"

The _Kasselheim_ turned again and began to pull away, towards the colony. Lee scowled. "Don't let them escape! Disable their engines!"

On the _Kasselheim_'s bridge, Mev gripped his armrests tensely and watched the _Girty Lue_ carefully.

"Yun, fire the Valiants! Now!"

The _Kasselheim_'s Valiant railguns fired; Lee's eyes widened as the railgun shells streaked past his ship and exploded, surrounding the _Girty Lue_ in fire and smoke.

"Pull up!" he ordered. "Gottfried five and six, fire on the last known vector! Don't let them hit us!"

The _Girty Lue_'s Gottfrieds tore apart the fireball and blazed past the _Kasselheim_; Mev stood up.

"We've got them dazzled," he said "Gottfrieds, fire!" He clenched his fists as the Gottfrieds rumbled and the _Girty Lue_ lazily rolled out of harm's way. "Mike, pull us closer to the colony. We're in for a long fight."

Shinn scowled at the approaching two Windams as they scanned through the darkness of the mine after him. The Impulse crouched behind a piece of heavy machinery in the shadows, beam rifle ready. He counted down a handful of seconds, waiting for the Windams to move into range—

The second Windam opened fire with its Doppelhorn Striker before Shinn could attack, blowing the machinery apart and forcing Shinn out of hiding. He pulled back behind his shield; the Windams fired again, raising a storm of loose rocks around the Impulse. The first Windam charged with its bazooka and fired; Shinn ducked underneath the shell and stabbed a beam rifle shot forward. The Windam slapped it aside with its shield and fired another bazooka shell into the Impulse's face, sending it staggering back.

"Dammit!" Shinn growled. "They're good!"

The second Windam fired a trio of shells at the Impulse; Shinn screamed as he jetted aside, and swept into the first Windam's face, drawing his beam saber and slicing off both barrels of its Doppelhorn Striker. The Windam pulled back and hurled the ruined pack at the Impulse; Shinn hacked through it with his saber and went reeling back from the resulting explosion. The Windam slammed down and fired its bazooka; Shinn hacked through the smoke to cut the shell down with a blaze of CIWS fire and storm forward, slashing the Windam's bazooka in two. The Windam pulled back and drew its beam rifle—the second Windam fired another volley of shots.

Shinn's eyes flashed as he picked the shells out of the air with his CIWS and charged. He ducked beneath the second Windam's shots and darted past the first Windam, diving into the second Windam's face and slicing its Doppelhorn Striker in two. The Windam abandoned the ruined Striker pack and swung around with its bazooka, just in time for Shinn to lop off the barrel with his saber and kick the Windam in the face, sending it staggering back.

The Impulse landed with a crash as the first Windam caught its comrade. Shinn scowled at the two mobile suits.

"Damn them," he growled. "How did the Alliance come up with such a good machine?"

The Windams fired their beam rifles; Shinn jetted to the side as the shots slammed into the rock wall with a burst of fire.

"And it's too damn cramped to maneuver in here!" Shinn added in frustration, ducking beneath another volley of beam shots and pulling back behind his shield. "What was I thinking, going in here?!" The Windams charged after him; Shinn looked up as a flash of recognition pricked his consciousness.

Immediately, the Impulse lunged back, away from the Windams, drawing its beam rifle. The Windams raised their own rifles; Shinn screamed and fired his rifle up into the ceiling of the tunnel. Rocks went flying, smashing down onto the Windams and forcing them to the tunnel floor. With a final shout, he aimed back down at the first Windam's cockpit and drilled a fatal shot through its stomach. The other Windam took cover behind its shield; Shinn's eyes flashed as he turned his rifle on the remaining mobile suit, and with one last beam shot, it was all over.

The Impulse turned and took off down the tunnels.

Neo's Windam swept forward, beam saber in hand—inside the Gaia, Stella tensed and raised the Gaia's own saber. The two machines met with a crash.

"You're too dangerous a loose end to keep around now, Stella," Neo grunted; the Windam surged forward, shoving the Gaia back, and swung its saber horizontally, seeking to slice the Gaia in half at the waist. The Gaia threw itself back to avoid the Windam's saber; the Windam charged after the Gaia, and the mobile suits' two sabers clashed in a spray of sparks. "A little girl like you can't be allowed to run around free!"

The Gaia jetted backwards as the Windam brought its saber down again; Stella clenched her fists around the Gaia's controls.

"Neo said he'd protect me..." she murmured; the Windam charged, loosing a hail of CIWS fire on the Gaia. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the Gaia's Phase Shift armor. "But...Neo didn't protect me..." she whispered to herself, deflecting the Windam's beam saber stroke with her shield and pulling back. The Windam followed with another horizontal slash that Stella used the Gaia's shield to deflect. "And now..."

The Windam roared up over the Gaia and swung back down, beam saber raised for an overhead hack. Stella's eyes flashed angrily.

"Neo's trying to kill me!" Stella screamed; the Gaia surged upwards; inside the Windam, Neo blinked in disbelief—

The Windam shuddered and staggered backward as the Gaia delivered a scything kick across its face. Neo grunted in pain as he was thrown back inside his mobile suit, and struggled to regain his balance. He pulled back and drew his beam rifle, but an instant later the Gaia cleaved the rifle in half with its saber.

"Dammit!" Neo snarled, jumping over the Gaia's head and drawing his saber again. The Gaia took off after him and swung its beam saber wildly after the retreating Windam. "How did she get _this_ rebellious?! Not even Sting and Auel have _attacked_ me!"

"Neo's trying to kill me!" Stella shrieked, boosting up into the Windam's face and kicking it in the stomach. "Neo _LIED!_"

The Gaia brought its saber down; Neo swung his own forward to parry her blow, and the two mobile suits were stuck pushing against each other.

Neo scowled inside the cockpit of the Windam.

"Shit, they keep coming!" Shinn grunted angrily as another Windam fired its bazooka at him in the mine tunnels. A second Windam lined up for a volley from its Doppelhorn Striker—Shinn whirled around to fire his beam rifle at the Windam's Striker before it could fire, blowing it apart in a violent explosion. The disarmed Windam staggered forward painfully—Shinn leapt backwards to avoid a bazooka shell from its comrade and fired again, spearing the wounded Windam on a beam shot through the torso.

As the Windam was torn apart in a thunderous explosion, Shinn stormed up into the other Windam's face, drawing his beam saber, slicing the Windam's bazooka in two, and kicking it backwards. The Windam drew its beam rifle, but Shinn stormed forward to slash it in half as well. The Windam drew back—Shinn charged after it, beam saber pulled back for a killing blow, and the Windam drew its own saber. The mobile suits clashed, and Shinn grunted in frustration as the Windam deflected his saber with its own.

The Windam surged forward, swinging its saber towards Shinn. He ducked beneath the blow, saw his opening, and lunged forward, driving his saber into the Windam's stomach.

"These things are incredible," Shinn breathed as the impaled Windam exploded. He turned and headed back down the tunnel, switching to his beam rifle. He could see the light of the stars twinkling up ahead, and thin green lines of beam fire ripping the sky apart.

A volley of beam shots ripped apart the rock as Shinn exited the tunnel, and he rocketed up out of the smoke, holding out his shield to deflect another volley of beam cannon shots. He skirted to the side as a red energy cannon blast smashed into the asteroid with a violent explosion.

Up ahead, the Chaos and Abyss Gundams loomed in front of him.

"That's the Impulse," Auel said quietly, scowling at the Gundam as it floated against the asteroid surface.

"We have no choice," Sting said grimly. "Shinn, for Stella's sake, you'd better survive."

The Chaos's eyes flashed, and the gunbarrels lifted off with a blast of exhaust. Shinn's eyes widened in surprise as the gunbarrels darted around him, and he took off to avoid a gauntlet of beam fire. The Abyss leapt up over the Chaos's head to fire a round of beam shots out of its shoulder shells. Shinn blinked in surprise as they seared by him and slammed into the rock face harmlessly.

"They're not shooting to hit me!" Shinn gasped, blinking at the two Gundams, as the Chaos fired towards him with his beam rifle and forced him closer to the asteroid. "Are they trying to box me in?!"

"Dammit, go back in the mine!" Sting shouted as he tried to lead the Impulse back into the tunnels with his beam blasts. "We don't want to fight you!"

"What?!" Shinn exclaimed. The Abyss fired a storm of beams at the Impulse, forcing it to retreat along the rock face.

"What part of it don't you understand?!" Auel shouted back. "Get back in the mine so we can't fucking find you!"

Shinn pulled back behind his shield as the Abyss took swipes at him with its beam lance. The Chaos's gunbarrels barred the way with a volley of beam fire—Shinn slammed on the brakes, but immediately the Abyss rammed into him and forced the Impulse back, seizing it by the arms and pushing it towards the rock.

"You're just lucky Stella likes you!" Auel shouted. "Or else I'd tear your fucking head off!"

"That's why you're letting me go?!" Shinn exclaimed.

The Chaos swept in, beam rifle raised. "Stella won't come back to us of her own free will," Sting snapped, "so if she's going to stay with you, we're gonna make sure you take care of her!"

"Now hurry up and get your ass out of here!" Auel snapped. "You're gonna blow our cover!"

The Chaos fired; Shinn's eyes widened in surprise as the blast seared by the Impulse and slammed into the rock behind him. As the smoke cloud surrounded them all, the Abyss let go of the Impulse, and Shinn jetted back down towards the tunnel.

Auel and Sting stared tensely at the cloud for a moment. Behind them, three combat flares went off, signaling a retreat—Sting and Auel glanced at each other, before the Chaos and Abyss turned and took off back towards the _Girty Lue_. In the tunnels, Shinn watched them go in disbelief.

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, en route to Lagrange Point 2**

Rey had an idea that Aoma was coming long before she showed her face on the hatch of his ZAKU Phantom, but that didn't make him any happier to see her. As she alighted on the hatch and peered warily inside the ZAKU, Rey sighed quietly to himself and stood up, crawling out of the ZAKU's innards and staring disdainfully at Aoma.

"What is it?" he asked gruffly. Aoma blinked in surprise and fumbled for words momentarily.

"Commander Hahnenfuss sent me to tell you—" she began.

"That we won't attack the _Kasselheim_," Rey finished harshly, glaring at her. "I know." He turned to delve back into the ZAKU's interior and make her leave.

Aoma blinked helplessly. "Um," she started awkwardly, "what are you doing in here?"

Rey glanced in dismay over his shoulder. "I'm adjusting the ZAKU's operating system," he said curtly. "Is there anything else?"

Aoma glanced aside awkwardly. "I...I guess not," she said. "I'm...sorry for bothering you."

She pushed off the ZAKU's hatch and disappeared around a corner. Rey rolled his eyes and returned to work.

**Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Neo Shanghai Colony, Lagrange Point 2**

"...they didn't want to fight..." Stella murmured.

She stood on the Gaia's open hatch, staring at the hangar doors, holding her helmet loosely in one hand. Shinn alighted on the hatch next to her and took her by the shoulders worriedly.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Stella looked at him slowly.

"...Sting and Auel...didn't want to fight..." she said quietly. "...they're Stella's friends..."

"I know," Shinn said, offering a smile.

"...did Shinn fight them?" Stella asked suddenly, turning to face him. Shinn blinked in surprise.

"They...they pretended to," Shinn said haltingly, "but they told me to hide in the mine."

Stella smiled slowly. "...Sting and Auel are Stella's friends," she said, "...so they won't fight Shinn."

Shinn smiled back awkwardly. "I guess not," he said, wondering what else there was to say.

"...Shinn won't hurt them, will he?" Stella asked, looking back at him with wide, earnest eyes.

Shinn opened his mouth to answer, but something stopped him. Stella wanted her friends to be safe, and while her friends were his enemy, there was no reason that Shinn could not extend to them the same charade of combat that they had extended to him. They weren't like normal soldiers—they knew that Stella cared about him, and didn't kill him because of it.

Maybe that was what made them "Extended."

Shinn smiled back. "I won't," he said.

**December 5th, CE 73 - Neo Shanghai colony**

"It's a big colony," the man said, "at least thirty million people. They've got mobile suits and everything."

Shinn found himself in a bar, stingy and dark and smoky, deep within the Neo Shanghai colony. George was next to him, both of them in a dark, secluded booth, listening to the silent bar as a single man, gaunt and ghostly-looking, spoke slowly and spookily to the patrons.

"They say it's a holdover of that old colony craze in the '30s," the man went on, pausing to take a liberal swig of beer. "You guys remember it, right? When all those colonies started settin' up crazy governments 'n' shit?"

There were murmurs of agreement. Shinn tuned them out. George stared calmly at the speaking man.

"This place, they call it the Marshall Colony," the man went on, leaning in, as if he was a little boy at a campfire. "They say the Atlantic Fed helped start it up as a prison or somethin' like that. But it's crazy there." Another pause for more beer. "Now, I dunno how much of this is true and how much is bullshit, but I hear things about this colony."

"You hear things about every colony," someone snorted. "What's your point?"

"Well, this one's different," the man said with a hint of defensiveness. He looked around melodramatically. "I hear it's full of monsters."

"Monsters?" something echoed. "Man, what the hell are you drinking?"

"I'm serious," the man said, "it's full of monsters." Another pause, another swig. "Just let me finish" He straightened his collarless jacket and cleared his throat. "Now, I'm not too sure about it all, but the rumors say that about twenty years ago, the Atlantic Fed started getting ready for a war against the PLANTs, and they realized that as they stood, the Naturals would've gotten their asses kicked, right?" A few nods answered him, though some faces seemed less than pleased. "I mean, no offense or anything, but...well, anyways," the man continued awkwardly, "they set the colony up as a prison, for all their worst criminals, the guys that got 25 to life, you know, the rapists and murderers and shit." More beer. "But they wanted to have some guys to fight the Coordinators, so they started doing these creepy-ass experiments on the prisoners, turning little children into super-soldiers, shit like that." He paused. "I even heard they'd just take kids they thought would make good subjects out of their homes and kill the families, and make it look like a random murder-robbery. And then they'd find some guy, accuse him of doing it, and ship him up to the colony too."

"But the Marshall Colony ain't an Atlantic Fed colony anymore," someone countered.

"Well, that's what they said," the man answered with a shrug. "But they still secretly send weapons 'n' shit up there all the time. It's still a bigass prison."

"And what does that have to do with this job you're bragging about?" someone asked.

Shinn and George glanced meaningfully at each other.

"I'm gettin' there, I'm gettin' there," the man groused. "Now just listen. Heard about this from the Kingfish, you know him. Someone, didn't say who, wants proof that the Marshall Colony's been dealing with the _United Emirates of Orb_. Some heavy shit."

Shinn scowled at the name.

"Orb?" someone asked in surprise. "Why would they be dealing with a shithole like Marshall?"

"How the hell are you supposed to prove that they've been dealing with Orb?" another person asked. "They got the whole colony on lockdown."

"I dunno," the man said with a shrug, "but whoever this guy is, he wants that info. He's willin' to pay two million Earth dollars for it."

Various people spit their drinks out in shock.

"Two million?" someone exclaimed incredulously.

Shinn and George glanced at each other again. George stood up and stepped into the light.

"Excuse me," he said loudly, catching everyone's attention, as he strode towards the ghostly-looking man. "I couldn't help but overhear something about two million Earth dollars."

"What, you gonna take that job?" the man asked, staring disbelievingly at George. "You fuckin' nuts, man?"

"Yes, I intend to take that job," George said calmly, "and I'd like more information about it."

"What?" the man exclaimed. "What makes you think you can do this?"

George allowed himself a small smile. "I have a friend," he said, "who should be quite up to the task."

To be continued...


	27. Phase 27: Into the Gates of Hell

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

Phase 27 - Into the Gates of Hell

****

December 6th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to Lagrange Point 3

"The plan," Mev Typhoon said with some measure of authority, "is going to take all of your skills to execute."

The _Kasselheim_'s bridge crew and mobile suit pilots were gathered on the bridge, with a diagram of the Marshall Colony on the main screen. Mev crossed his arms and glanced at Viima.

Viima, Shinn noted, seemed unusually subdued. He wondered why, noting as well that he could feel some kind of tightly repressed emotional turmoil coming from her, but he could not figure out why. She gripped a baton tightly and stepped up towards the screen.

"The Marshall Colony is a closed-type O'Neill cylinder colony," she began, her voice quavering almost imperceptibly. "It's a prison colony owned by the Atlantic Federation and maintained by the Marshall Colony Authority, a subsidiary of the Atlantic Federation military, armed with mobile suits and warships enough to protect the colony from all but an all-out military assault. This colony is where the Atlantic Federation's worst criminals are sent." Shinn bristled at the thought. "Our employer wants recorded evidence of dealings that Orb's Seiran family has had with the Marshall Colony," Viima continued. "Information like that would be kept in the colony's information center." She glanced at Shinn emotionlessly. "Shinn and Stella will infiltrate the colony and collect the information."

Shinn tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. Of course he and Stella would have to do this. They were the _soldiers_. They wouldn't have any fear.

"The Marshall Colony is armed by the Atlantic Federation military," Viima went on, looking specifically at Shinn, though still ostensibly speaking to everyone. "There are battleships all over, donated by the Atlantic Federation Space Fleet, and the colony itself maintains security with thousands of armed and armored ground units and hundreds of mobile suits. The colony is defended by an array of beam cannons on the outside. Although the Atlantic Federation has only armed the Marshall Colony with surplus Strike Daggers, there are still hundreds of them stationed at the colony, so you'll have to use stealth to sneak over to the third block of the colony and enter through the colony wall."

"_Through_ the colony wall?" Miki exclaimed in disbelief, as all eyes turned towards her. "You'd need a really big cannon to do that!"

Viima tapped her baton against the colony's schematics, as Mike duly zoomed the screen in on the corresponding section of the colony wall.

"You can enter on the colony wall in this blind spot," she said, indicating a conspicuous opening on the colony wall. "The beam cannons are only mounted on the ends of the colony hull, and your mobile suits will be equipped with sensor jamming devices. You'll enter through this sewage outlet." Shinn felt his stomach churn. "The Marshall Colony Authority doesn't check the sewers," Viima said. Shinn silently wondered how she knew that. "The sewer systems are automated and largely unprotected. Follow the sewers—you'll have a map to point you in the right directions—and come up underneath the colony's records repository. Infiltrate the repository and retrieve the desired data, then retrace your steps and make your escape. The _Kasselheim_ will be waiting for you on the edge of the Marshall Colony's airspace. We're bound to attract attention sitting here, so be quick."

"I trust," Mev said, turning to Shinn, "that your skills shall once again not disappoint."

Shinn nodded dourly.

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, en route to Lagrange Point 3

"They're going _where?!_"

Arthur stood in shock on the bridge, staring disbelievingly at the map on Meyrin's screen. Talia glanced tiredly at him.

"What are you talking about, Arthur?" she asked. Arthur turned towards her incredulously, looked back helplessly at the screen, and then looked at Talia again.

"They're going to the _cursed_ colony!" Arthur wailed.

Talia arched an eyebrow. "The _cursed_ colony?" she echoed.

"It's true, captain!" Arthur exclaimed. He paused and blinked in disbelief at himself, and promptly straightened up. "I mean...well, I've heard rumors—"

"Out with it, Arthur," Talia said wearily.

"It's cursed!" Arthur yelped in surprise. "There's ships that go there and are never heard from again! Even Junk Guild ships!"

Talia blinked, surprised herself. "What is this colony called?" she asked.

Arthur paused, crestfallen. Talia glanced at Meyrin.

"The Marshall Colony," she supplied quietly.

Talia sat back, recognizing the name. "That colony's not cursed," she said, trying not to sound like a teacher lecturing a student who didn't quite get it. "It's an Atlantic Federation prison. The guards there are keeping anyone from getting too close, and the curse reputation just helps."

"But captain!" Arthur protested. "They're even attacking Junk Guild ships! The Junk Guild's supposed to be neutral!"

"When has anyone ever cared when anyone is neutral?" Talia countered. Arthur paused again, looking defeated.

"Then...what will we do?" he asked quietly.

Talia sat back, crossing her arms. "What we will do," she began, "is follow this pirate ship." Arthur's eyes widened in disbelief, but Talia continued before he could sputter another protest. "We will stay sufficiently far enough away to keep from drawing attention from the Marshall Colony." She glanced at Burt. "Make sure we stay on the _Kasselheim_'s tail. We will not engage the pirates until after we figure out what they're doing at the Marshall Colony."

"Yes ma'am," Burt answered. Arthur opened his mouth to protest, but no sound came out. Talia put a hand to her chin in thought.

_And_, she added to herself, _we'll see how crazy Shinn has become_.

****

December 7th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to Lagrange Point 3

"...and with yesterday's opening of full-scale military invasion by the Earth Alliance of the Muslim League, the Earth Alliance forces have today successfully seized the Suez Canal..."

Shinn glanced tiredly at the television screen in the galley of the _Kasselheim_. He looked back at Stella, as she happily consumed something that, somewhere in the world, passed for a cup of soup and noodles. Evidently she didn't mind that the thing was a stroke wrapped up in a Styrofoam cup. She paused in the midst of eating, with a mess of soggy noodles sticking out of her mouth, and looked quizzically at Shinn.

Shinn smiled at her as she slurped up the surplus noodles and blinked at him.

"What's wrong, Shinn?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head and turning back to his own Styrofoam cup of death. He stared awkwardly at the off-green watery substance, still wondering how Viima knew so much about the Marshall Colony. His senses pricked up as he felt Kika's familiar presence approaching.

"Staring at it isn't gonna make it any healthier," Kika said with a smirk as she approached with a cup of death of her own. Shinn blinked at her and suddenly felt even more awkward as she sat down across from him, regarding him interestedly for a moment. "You ready for your big day?"

Shinn looked awkwardly to the side. Stella stopped eating, looking lost.

"...how come everyone else won't help us..." Stella murmured.

"They can't," Shinn explained quietly. "We have to sneak in ourselves, or else they would be in danger."

"Nothing we're not used to," Kika added with a shrug. "You gonna be okay?"

"We'll have to be," Shinn muttered. He glanced up at Kika, paused for a moment, and then heaved a sigh. "How does Viima know so much about the Marshall Colony?"

Kika blinked in surprise. "She used to be in the Marshall Colony Authority," she explained. "But she got a little too popular a little too fast and a pissy superior framed her for some kinda scandal and forced her out. We picked her up."

Shinn sat back. "I wonder if we'll find him," he wondered aloud. He paused again, glancing towards the door.

The port observation deck was quiet as Mev Typhoon crossed his arms, staring impassively out the windows, out at the Earth as it loomed beneath them.

"At the very least," he said, glancing at the figure at his side, "in a roundabout way, through Shinn and Stella, you can have revenge."

Viima put her hands on the railing, staring intently at the stars. "I don't want revenge, captain," she said. "I want justice."

"There's a thin line between revenge and justice," Mev said. Viima scowled.

"Justice," she snorted. "Justice is me getting to find the man who destroyed my career, destroyed my livelihood, destroyed my _dignity_, and cast me out into space with nothing. Justice is me getting to chase him through his own colony. Justice is me getting to corner him and back him against the wall, giving him nowhere to hide, making him feel the same helplessness and terror that he made me feel when he..." She trailed off, shaking her head violently, her fists clenching around the rails. "And justice is me getting to kill him."

Mev regarded Viima impassively for a moment. "Will you be asking Shinn to find Brigadier General Anderson, then?" he asked. Viima stared at the stars for a moment, before she shook her head.

"That would be wrong," she said. "Our job comes first." She scowled. "But should he come along...I certainly wouldn't mind."

Mev was silent a moment. "I apologize for taking this job, then," he said. Viima looked at him in surprise. "I knew your history and knew the bad blood with the Marshall Colony."

"We need money," she said quickly, shaking her head again. "It's two million Earth dollars. We can't pass it up." She looked at Mev. "At the very least, I can arm Shinn and Stella with the best information I can provide. And if they happen to run into Brigadier General Anderson..." She trailed off again.

"You have a lot invested in them," Mev observed with an understanding nod.

"They better not fail me," Viima said.

Mev looked back at the Earth. "They won't."

****

Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation

Few things made Lord Djibril smile, but the image emblazoned on the monitors of his underground communication room was one of them. Towering over him, stretching from floor to ceiling, filling almost every screen, was the GFAS-X1 Destroy Gundam.

"It's beautiful," Djibril said absently.

From the laptop screen where his own image had been redirected as an afterthought, Joseph Copland arched an inquisitive eyebrow. "Beautiful?" he echoed. "Djibril, this thing cost 500 billion dollars. We can't keep this war up for long or our economy will be driven into the ground."

"This will end it," Djibril murmured, ignoring Copland. "This is it...this is the tool...the tool that Azrael searched for but never found..."

"Djibril," Copland said, frowning as Djibril stepped towards the screen, mesmerized.

"Mr. President," Djibril said, almost dreamily, "you need not worry about the Atlantic Federation's economy or public opinion." He smiled, and turned towards Copland's image.

"And why don't I have to worry about our economy or public opinion?" Copland asked warily, eyeing Djibril carefully. Djibril flashed a madman's smile.

"Murata Azrael was the leader of Blue Cosmos before I took over," he said, his eyes showing a dangerous glint that made Copland squirm uncomfortably in his seat on the other end. "He siphoned profits from Azrael Conglomerate into the development of new weapons, new breeds of Extended, new mobile suits, to fight ZAFT and wipe out the Coordinators for good. He got a hold of ZAFT's N-Jammer Canceller, he maneuvered the Alliance leadership into building an arsenal of nuclear weapons, and he personally led the Alliance fleet in its final attack on the PLANT homeland. He had all the cards he needed. And yet he failed."

"Of course he did," Copland scoffed. "The followers of that Clyne girl destroyed Azrael's nuclear weapons, and Patrick Zala's GENESIS destroyed the fleet. What's your point, Djibril?"

Djibril's smile got a little wider.

"Azrael made a mistake," he said, "but I have not...I have the perfect weapon now." He turned and looked back at the Destroy. "Phase Shift, a positron reflector, a nuclear engine, enough beam sabers and beam cannons and missiles to level a city..." He spun around to face Copland again. "No annoying little girl and her teenage followers can stop _this_. No naive little boy in a shiny Gundam can jump in and shoot this down before it reaches the PLANTs. No battleship full of young fools and traitors can intervene this time. There will be no stopping us."

"Djibril," Copland began.

Lord Djibril cut him off with an abortive chuckle. "I will succeed where Azrael failed," he said to himself. "Yes, _I_ will be the one to finally destroy you, Gilbert Dullindal. You will not have your new world of Newtypes. I will stop you. I will _destroy you._"

"Djibril!" Copland exclaimed. "What's wrong with you?"

"Build me five more Destroys," Lord Djibril said quickly, gesturing melodramatically at Copland. "Station them at the Daedalus Crater base. That will be our headquarters, and they will be the sentinels, when we finally launch to wipe those Coordinators off the face of the universe."

"_Five more Destroys?_" Copland exclaimed in disbelief. "Djibril, are you mad? I've asked my people to give up much for this war, barely two months old, on the heels of a war just as devastating that was barely two years ago, and I can ask for no more! The money that went into this one Destroy could prostrate a nation!"

"Mr. President, you are from America," Djibril said testily. "When have your people _ever_ worried about how much money your military hardware costs?"

"_No one_ has ever spent 500 billion dollars on a single machine!" Copland cried. "Djibril, this is outrageous!"

Djibril turned back towards the Destroy, ignoring Copland's protests. "And as for you," he went on, putting a hand to his chin in thought, "we must find a way to show the PLANTs how powerful you are." He eyed the Destroy carefully.

"Djibril, listen to me!" Copland protested.

Djibril cast a sidelong glance at Copland. "Mr. President," he said, "build these Destroys for me, and you will not have to worry about the war any longer."

"You're insane!" Copland sputtered. "You can't expect me to build you five more Destroys! That would cost two and a half trillion—"

"You concern yourself too much with money, Mr. President," Djibril snapped. "This war will not be won if you fear for the stability of your bottom line. Build these Destroys, and the war will be won. Of that I can guarantee." He turned back towards the screen again. "We cannot attack ZAFT in space until they are driven off the Earth," he murmured to himself. "And we cannot let ZAFT continue to have allies." He paused. His eyes flashed in delight. "Of course...their terrestrial allies...the Muslim League." He turned to Copland. "Mr. President," he said. "Send the Destroy to fight the Muslim League." He flashed another madman's smile. "Chairman Dullindal will see just how powerful the blue and clean world can be."

****

December 8th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, en route to Lagrange Point 3

The room was dark and quiet. That was the way it had to be.

The time had come. Ruumari sat up in the darkness, clenching his fists as he crawled out of bed as quietly as possible. The _Minerva_ wasn't going to attack the _Kasselheim_—the _Minerva_ wasn't going to attack the traitor. But they were already in range, and Ruumari would not let this opportunity pass him by.

He glanced at Aoma as he dressed, pulling his belt around the long ZAFT uniform shirt. She was still asleep, peaceful as ever, totally unsuspecting.

"Sorry, Aoma," he whispered. "We can't go together this time."

He opened the door, slipped through into the corridor, and shut it behind him, as Aoma barely began to stir.

The _Minerva_ was eerily silent as Ruumari traveled down the corridors to the locker room. This was good, though. He couldn't have anyone stop him. He wasn't technically supposed to be launching...but he could not let this opportunity slip away. Captain Gladys was being too cautious. The only way to bring down the traitor was to fight him.

Ruumari slipped into the locker room without event and climbed into his flight suit. He risked a glance around the hangar and found no one in any position to stop him. He silently, stealthily made his way to the inert Blast Impulse. He alighted against the boarding gantry and felt himself trembling. He looked up at the face of his slumbering machine.

The Blast Impulse stared back reassuringly. Ruumari smirked; the traitor would die today. He had trained for this day. Nothing would stop him now.

He ducked inside and shut the hatch, and with a flash of green from its eyes, the Blast Impulse came to life.

On the bridge, Meyrin Hawke felt her eyelids grow heavy, and wearily glanced at the digital clock jammed in the corner of her display. She had another fifteen minutes until her shift ended. She glanced dimly over the displays and yawned.

Something on the screen beeped. Meyrin cracked an eye open in mid-yawn, surprised, and glanced over the display. Her eyes widened in surprise as she realized that the _Minerva_'s portside catapult was activated, and someone was launching through it. A system inquiry later, she found herself staring in shock at Ruumari's determined face.

"What—?" she began.

"Don't stop me," Ruumari snapped.

The Blast Impulse launched. Meyrin looked helplessly out the window, as the rest of the bridge crew began to realize that something was wrong. The Blast Impulse rocketed out of the _Minerva_'s portside catapult.

"Is that Ruumari?!" Burt exclaimed, getting up out of his seat and watching the mobile suit race off into the darkness. "What the hell is he doing?!"

"I don't know!" Meyrin cried. "He launched before I could stop him!"

Burt cursed under his breath. "Call the captain," he said. "This'll get ugly."

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to Lagrange Point 3

Shinn Asuka cracked his knuckles as the Force Impulse Gundam warmed up. There was a mobile suit approaching—but there was only one. It was strange; Shinn was suspicious.

"We'll launch you first, Shinn," Kika explained, eyeing him carefully as she spoke. "Send for reinforcements at your discretion."

"Roger," Shinn answered mechanically. He willed away all distractions—he was entering combat now. He couldn't afford to be distracted. He curled his fists around the Impulse's controls. "Shinn Asuka, Impulse..._going out!_"

The Impulse took off with a flash; Shinn narrowed his eyes at the black panorama of space around him, with the Earth hanging below him. He curved the Impulse around lazily over the Earth, igniting the boosters. The approaching mobile suit was coming from behind the _Kasselheim_—Shinn turned and took off, blazing by the _Kasselheim_'s bridge tower and storming towards the darkness, broken only by the Moon.

"Shinn," Kika's voice added. "We're picking up a ship too."

"What kind?" Shinn asked, feeling his heart begin to sink. Surely it wasn't...

"The _Minerva_," Kika answered gravely.

Shinn scowled in frustration. They were always there.

"Is it Rey...?" he murmured. He closed his eyes, trying to reach out with his senses, whatever they were, and find this new presence. He felt something hot and pulsing, but it wasn't Rey. It wasn't Luna or Shiho either...so it had to be one of those new Impulse units.

"But why would they send only one?" Mike asked on the _Kasselheim_'s bridge. Shinn opened his eyes and peered through the Impulse's telescopic sights, and sure enough, the Blast Impulse Gundam was storming determinedly towards him.

"We'll have the other units standing by," Mev said authoritatively. "Shinn, figure out who this enemy is and try to force him off yourself."

Shinn nodded. "Roger," he answered, and cut the transmission. He couldn't have them distracting him—this one seemed different.

Up ahead, inside the Blast Impulse, Ruumari Star scowled at the magnified image of the charging Force Impulse Gundam.

"There you are, traitor," he snarled, ramping up the boosters to maximum. "You can't get away from me now."

Inside the Force Impulse, Shinn blinked in surprise as the presence changed—it grew hotter, like he was holding a burning coal, something that was burning him even as he intended to throw it at someone else.

_Is this...hatred?_ he wondered. The Blast Impulse came into visual range.

"I'll take you down today!" Ruumari screamed; the Blast Impulse fired a full burst from its beam cannons, railguns, and beam rifle. Shinn grunted in surprise as the Force Impulse jetted out of harm's way. The Blast Impulse fired again with its beam cannons, and Shinn dove away from the shimmering beam blasts in a burst of exhaust.

"He's all alone!" Shinn growled, as the Blast Impulse released a salvo of missiles. "What's this guy up to?!" He pulled back behind his shield as the Blast Impulse opened fire.

"Come back here!" Ruumari shouted, firing the booster to give chase. "I've trained for this day!"

The missiles came streaking in; Shinn narrowed his eyes at them and peppered their ranks with a CIWS burst, wiping them out. He burst through the smoke and stormed up towards the charging Blast Impulse with a beam rifle shot, forcing Ruumari aside as he deflected the shots with his shield. The Blast Impulse released another volley of missiles.

"Dammit," Shinn grunted, "he's getting better." The Force Impulse pulled back with another CIWS salvo.

"I'm not done yet!" Ruumari yelled, taking off after the Force Impulse.

"It's like Shinn never left," Shiho muttered under her breath in frustration, rubbing sleep from her eyes as the Savior raced forward. Behind her, the two ZAKUs and Aoma's Sword Impulse formed up, and Shiho sat back, staring disdainfully at the dim points of light that were the _Kasselheim_'s engines exhaust trails. There were other flashes of light near the _Kasselheim_—Ruumari had obviously already caught up with the pirates.

"I apologize for this, Commander," Aoma began awkwardly.

"You're not the one who has to do the apologizing," Lunamaria added tiredly, stifling a yawn with the back of her hand. "He is."

"Shiho," Talia's voice interrupted. Shiho glanced wearily at the screen, finding an equally irritated-looking Talia in the captain's seat. "Don't engage the pirates," she ordered. "Just bring Ruumari back here."

"Roger," Shiho answered. The screen went dark, and Shiho sighed in annoyance. "What the hell is that kid thinking...?"

"Who the hell _are_ you?" Shinn screamed, as the Blast Impulse Gundam fired another full burst at him. He dove above it and fired back with his rifle, but the Blast Impulse ducked aside and opened fire with its beam cannons.

"I won't let you go!" Ruumari shouted; the Blast Impulse hurled something down at Shinn, and he widened his eyes and blocked it with his shield. A moment later, he stared in disbelief at the Folding Razor knife sticking out of his shield.

"You have _got_ to be _kidding_ me!" Shinn exclaimed, as the Blast Impulse dropped down on him, beam javelin ignited. The Force Impulse backed away, ducking aside from one javelin swipe and twisting away from another. "You're attacking Phase Shift with an anti-armor knife?! Are you nuts?!"

"_DIE ALREADY!_" Ruumari shrieked; he hurled his ignited javelin at the Force Impulse. Shinn narrowed his eyes at it, drawing his beam saber and smacking it aside at the beam tip. The Blast Impulse charged again, remaining javelin in its left hand, but Shinn caught its downward blow with his saber, and the two machines pushed against each other helplessly.

Shinn's eyes widened as he heard the pilot scream. "You goddamned traitor!" his enemy shrieked. "Die already! _DIE ALREADY!_"

"Who...?" Shinn murmured. He jumped in surprise as the Blast Impulse pulled back for another full burst, and Shinn sent the Force Impulse into a backwards dive, avoiding the blasts. The Blast Impulse rose to attack, beam rifle pointed down at the Force Impulse.

"_FOR ZAFT!_" the Blast Impulse's pilot screamed; the Blast Impulse fired, only to see Shinn deflect the shot with his shield and fire back, spearing the Blast Impulse's rifle. Ruumari abandoned the ruined weapon with a snarl as it exploded, and charged again with his javelin.

"Goddammit," Shinn grunted, pulling back as the Blast Impulse took furious swipes at him with its beam javelin. "What the hell is with you?!"

"I'll kill you!" Ruumari screamed back. "I'll kill you and prove myself to the world! I'll bring your head back to Chairman Dullindal! Just watch!"

The Blast Impulse charged one last time; Shinn narrowed his eyes as time began to slow—

A beam rifle shot coursed between the two Gundams. Shinn's eyes widened in surprise, and the Blast Impulse slammed on the brakes. A moment later, there was a blur of red smashing into the side of the Blast Impulse, knocking it aside. Shinn gasped in disbelief.

The Savior Gundam floated between the two Impulses, beam rifle pointed at Shinn.

"Stand down, Shinn," Shiho ordered. "We're bringing him back to the _Minerva_."

"What?!" Shinn exclaimed. Rey's white ZAKU Phantom and Luna's red ZAKU Warrior dropped in and seized the Blast Impulse's arms.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ruumari shrieked, glowering at the ZAKUs. "Let me go! _LET ME GO!_"

"Get him back to the _Minerva_," Shiho ordered, glaring over her shoulder at the Blast Impulse. "He's got a hell of an ass-kicking coming to him for this."

The two ZAKUs took off with the thrashing Blast Impulse. Shinn looked back in shock at the Savior.

"We're not here to fight you," Shiho said coldly. "This time."

The Savior transformed into its mobile armor mode and rocketed away before Shinn could say anything else.

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to Lagrange Point 3

The Impulse had returned, and was settling back into its usual spot in the _Kasselheim_'s hangar, but Shinn didn't feel like coming back out.

Shiho's words still rang in his mind. "We're not here to fight you," she had said. "This time," she added. And then, in a flash, the Savior had taken off.

He heard the Blast Impulse's pilot screaming at him, calling him a traitor. Shinn sat back in his cockpit seat, staring at the top screen.

_Am I really a traitor...?_ he thought.

He had left ZAFT behind, that was true...but he'd done it because it had seemed like the right thing to do. No, it _was_ the right thing to do. He couldn't abandon Stella. He couldn't let his friends kill her. He couldn't let them hurt her. He had promised her. He had promised to protect her. He couldn't let her die.

He saw Mayu's severed arm on the Onogoro hillside in CE 71, and squeezed his eyes shut. He would never let _that_ happen again. Not to Stella. He had failed once, but never again...

Shinn opened his eyes slowly, remembering Rey. Rey had promised him a new way, a new path, a mission, a purpose in life to fight and create some new utopia where he wouldn't have to fight, because there would be peace. True peace, not peace that existed because of both sides' mutual exhaustion.

But Rey's way hadn't been the right way for Shinn. Rey's way would have led Shinn into more suffering and torment than he could handle. Rey's way meant going back on his promise to Stella, abandoning her. Rey's way meant that someday, it might be Stella's burning, mangled corpse he would be staring helplessly at. That was unacceptable.

Rey would have pushed him harder, if he could have. Of that, Shinn had no doubt—Rey wanted to turn Shinn into a super-soldier Newtype that answered only to Chairman Dullindal. Shinn couldn't do that. He couldn't forget about Stella and his family, he couldn't turn his emotions off and become the omniscient battlefield god Rey and Gilbert had wanted him to be.

Shinn glanced around on the Impulse's screens, at the panoramic view of the _Kasselheim_'s hangar. Here he had a home. Here he had friends. Here he didn't have to suffer and be told that his suffering was the result of some magical power that he had no choice but to keep bearing. And here he wasn't being told that in order to ease his suffering, he had to fight and suffer even _more_ so that at some indeterminate date in the future, there might be a magical utopia where he could be at peace. He closed his eyes again. Kika had promised him that.

"We're not here to fight you," Shiho had told him. "This time."

Shinn opened his eyes again and scowled.

_Next time,_ he thought, eyes afire with determination, _you'll get your fight._

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, orbit of Earth

"One week, solitary confinement," the flak-jacketed guard said as he locked the door to Ruumari's cell. Ruumari was sulking furiously on the cot inside as the door locked with a slam. The guard turned and shook his head. "I've been putting way too many pissy MS pilots in here for unauthorized launches," he sighed. He glanced at Lunamaria as she stared ruefully inside the cell, leaning against the opposite cell door. "Can't you kids get drunk and get into fights like normal soldiers?"

"We don't hold liquor very well," Luna answered with a shrug. "If he starts shrieking about the traitor, just get some headphones or something." She stood up with a sigh. "Sorry about all this. Commander Hahnenfuss gave him a good beating when we got back, and Captain Gladys didn't hold back either, so he should be pretty sedate for a while."

"We've got those tranquilizers your little redhead friend gave us," the guard said, peering into the cell at the fairly battered Ruumari. He still had a big purple bruise on his cheek, and a nice black eye developing over his right eye. He would look like death warmed over in the morning. "Do we have permission to kick his ass if he gets too uppity?"

"No," Luna said with another shrug. She smiled encouragingly. "But I'm sure we could all overlook a slap or two." She turned to leave. "I have a report to file, but they left me to be responsible for him, so I'll be back later."

"We'll survive," the guard said resignedly as Luna left.

In the hallway outside the brig, Luna heaved a sigh and shook her head.

"It _is_ like Shinn never left," she muttered.

****

December 9th, CE 73 - Office of the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5

It was huge. It was unstoppable. It was the perfect weapon of mass destruction.

Gilbert Dullindal sneered up at the master screen of his office. On it, there was footage of the Earth Alliance's terrifying new Destroy Gundam, rampaging across the territory of the Muslim League. Already it had annihilated an entire city, and there was no telling when—or if—it would stop.

"Damn you, Djibril," Gilbert growled. "This is absurd."

On the screen, a brave—or stupid—Muslim League GINN leapt gallantly into the air, heavy sword drawn and raised above its head for a killing stab, as it sailed back down towards the Destroy's head.

Gilbert knew how this scenario would end. The PLANT news crews had very little footage of the Destroy in action, so they had been tastelessly and relentlessly looping the same four or five clips all day, and Gilbert had seen this valiantly foolish GINN vault into the air for a heroic deathblow more times than he could count. Once again, it leapt upwards, sword upraised. Once again, gravity reclaimed it and it swiveled its sword around for a killing stab.

And once again, the Destroy casually—if giant fifty-meter mobile suits could _be_ casual—tilted its head back and blew the GINN away with a mouth beam cannon blast. It had been kind of comical at first, in a sadistic way, but now it was just getting damned annoying.

The GINN's sword landed in the dirt with a crash. Gilbert shook his head.

The thing had a positron reflector shield, the same kind on the Alliance's Zamzazar, which had deflected the _Minerva_'s Tannhäuser at Orb, and the same kind that had made the Gelzuge unstoppable at Cyprus until the Freedom Gundam had taken it down. Nothing, it seemed, could punch through a positron reflector. Only ZAFT's two best pilots, in two of ZAFT's best Gundams, could break through the defenses of those mobile armors and take them down.

Djibril had created an unstoppable superweapon that was going to tear the Muslim League limb from limb, and they could throw everything they had at it, but nothing would stop it. And it would not be long before they turned this weapon on ZAFT. And the Oceania Union was collapsing, meaning that an attack on Carpentaria would be on the horizon, and after that, only Antarctica remained. ZAFT's beachheads from Operation _Spear of Twilight_ were crumbling. ZAFT was losing control of the Earth.

Gilbert wondered if this was how the plan was supposed to go. He looked back towards the screen.

"Well," he said quietly, "it's not all lost yet." He turned and opened a drawer in his desk, and slid a disk into his computer terminal. He turned around, and the image of the Destroy on the master screen vanished. Instead, it was replaced by a massive set of blueprints.

A green latticework image of his newest weapon appeared above him. The twisted green monoeye of the ZGMF-X6000 ZAKU Goliath stared back down at him. It was almost 150 meters tall. It had a beam shield designed to protect a fortress. It had a cannon capable of leveling a city in one shot. It had DRAGOONs. It had enough weapons to devastate the entire Earth Alliance and keep going.

All it needed was a Newtype.

Gilbert smiled.

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Lagrange Point 3

The intimidating bulk of the Marshall Colony rose terrifyingly over the screen as the _Kasselheim_ approached. It was a massive closed-type colony, as they had said. It was surrounded in asteroids and space junk of varying sizes—upon a closer look, the asteroids were studded with gun emplacements and missile launchers. The largest had small docks and battleships, and even mobile suits standing on the asteroid surfaces. Everything else was space junk, the remains of all those who had come too close. The place was a fortress.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Mike asked, glancing back at Viima.

"They don't want to give themselves away," she answered. "They'll only attack if you get within a certain range, and even then, they'll wait for provocation."

Mev Typhoon sat back in the bridge chair. "We'll send the Impulse and Gaia in at midnight," he said. "Mike, Yun, find us a good place to launch them."

"In all this debris?" Mike muttered under his breath.

"It's an order!" Yun shot back. "Shut up and do it!"

"Well, _look_ at all this shit!" Mike complained.

"There must be a hole in the defense somewhere," Yun grumbled.

"At HES-88," Viima interrupted. Mike and Yun looked back at her in surprise. "They'll be shutting the defenses down at midnight for software maintenance."

"You sure?" Mike asked, arching an eyebrow. Viima glanced back at Mev; he nodded.

"It's a routine maintenance schedule. If they haven't changed those schedules since I left, HES-88 will be down tonight. Take us there," she said, turning and glancing at Mev again.

He stared forward resolutely. "If you don't want to be on the bridge—" he began.

"I'll stay, captain," she said. She turned around and glared at the Marshall Colony. "I have to."

"It's scary," Stella murmured, staring fearfully out the porthole of her room as the defenses of the Marshall Colony slid by.

Miki peered disdainfully at them. "Well," she said, "they all look like machineguns and railguns, so you should be okay." She smiled. "You've got the Gundam after all."

Stella continued to stare at the gun-studded asteroids outside.

"Relax!" Miki said, grabbing her by the shoulders and grinning. "You're a way better pilot than us and you've got a way better machine! And you'll be with Shinn, and you know how much ass _he_ kicks! You two will be fine!"

"...Shinn..." Stella murmured, looking slowly at Miki. "...will Shinn be alright?"

"Well," Miki said, "that's what you're there for. He can't watch his back all the time. You've gotta protect him."

"...protect...Shinn?" Stella repeated. Miki nodded excitedly.

"Yeah," she said, "bring him back home safe. That's your job." She flashed a toothy grin. "'kay?"

Stella was a silent a moment, before she offered Miki a tiny smile and nodded.

"...okay."

"For Christ's sake," Shinn moaned, staring out the port observation deck at the Marshall Colony's morass of defensive emplacements as the _Kasselheim_ passed by. "Aprilius 1 didn't have this much security." He heaved a sigh. "Getting through here is gonna be a _bitch_."

At his side, Kika shrugged and offered him a nervous smile. "Well, we're heading for a hole Viima said will be in their defenses when we launch you," she added. "That helps, right?"

"Until we have to get back out," Shinn said dourly, "and I doubt they'll let us fly back out the same way." He shook his head. "This won't be easy."

Kika said nothing, looking at the Marshall Colony defenses. At last, she turned towards Shinn, putting her hands on his shoulders. He blinked in surprise at her.

"Shinn," she said, "be careful out there."

"Wha—what do you mean?" Shinn sputtered.

"You're gonna be all on your own in there," Kika said. Shinn blinked again, noticing the strange amount of concern he could see in her face. "We won't be able to help you. Just be careful. I..." She trailed off, as if searching for words. "I don't want to lose you."

"...Stella will be with me," Shinn began awkwardly. Kika sighed and hung her head in defeat.

"You're so dense, Shinn," she sighed. She looked back up at him. "Come back to me alive."

"I—" Shinn began.

"Promise me!" Kika cut him off, shaking him by the shoulders.

Shinn stared into her eyes. He could see something there that he couldn't quite understand, but knew it was something important. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"I promise."

"Okay, kids," Mev Typhoon's tinny voice said through the Impulse's speakers. "It's showtime."

"The HES-88 defense field is deactivated," Viima added. "You have five minutes. Get going."

Shinn tightened his grip around the Impulse's controls as the Gaia Gundam took off. It was now or never.

"Shinn Asuka, Impulse..._going out!"_

The Impulse took off with a flash.

To be continued...


	28. Phase 28: The Marshall Colony

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 28 - The Marshall Colony

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 11th, CE 73 - Near the Marshall Colony, Lagrange Point 3

"700 to the colony and closing," Shinn Asuka said tensely, eyes flicking over the instruments in the Force Impulse Gundam's cockpit. He glanced to his right. "Are you okay, Stella?"

Stella nodded. She looked different somehow—determined, hardened, undoubtedly ready for what they were walking into. Shinn looked back at the colony, trying to feel the same way.

Up ahead, he could see the opening in the colony wall, large enough, it seemed, for the Impulse and Gaia to both comfortably fit. Shinn guided the Impulse towards it, the Gaia right behind him. He guessed that they could both slip into the opening with at least two minutes to spare before the colony's outer defenses came back online. All the guns were pointed outward, so if they moved fast enough, they might be able to get out safely, although he had no doubt that the defense field would be back online by the time they returned their mobile suits.

The Impulse and Gaia eased into the sewage outlet and came up against a massive airlock. Shinn glanced to the side, finding the appropriate switch.

"This won't be pretty," he muttered. "Watch out, Stella."

The Impulse and Gaia retreated to both sides of the outlet, and Shinn threw the switch. The airlock opened, and air began to rush out, along with a rather hideous cloud of sludge that Shinn found himself very grateful he could not smell. Both mobile suits slipped inside and Shinn quickly shut the airlock behind them.

The Impulse and Gaia set down in front of the airlock. Shinn unbuckled the Impulse's safety belts and reached under the cockpit seat, pulling out the field gear he presumed he would need. He loaded his pistol and sighed, opening the cockpit hatch.

Stella was already out. The tunnel's atmosphere returned, so Shinn and Stella left their helmets behind, descended on the zip lines, and surveyed the area grimly.

"What does the map say, Stella?" Shinn asked. Stella consulted a small digital device in her hand, and pointed at one of the openings. Shinn looked around, already feeling uneasy.

There were at least a dozen openings in the wall that all tapered off at the huge airlock that the Impulse and Gaia were kneeling in front of. Stella pointed at one of the ones on the ground level, and Shinn heaved a sigh. "Let's go," he said.

The sewage canal reeked as hideously as Shinn expected it to. He squinted through the nauseating vapors, shaking his head. "This is ridiculous," he grunted. He glanced over at Stella; she had one hand clamped firmly over her face, looking most unhappy. He glanced down at the gear he had been loaded with for the mission. Kika and Miki had insisted that Shinn and Stella go heavily armed, so between the two of them, Shinn and Stella found themselves carrying six loaded handguns and several dozen spare magazines. Shinn was not entirely sure they would need to carry that much firepower with them—if anything, they could steal some weapons from soldiers while they were here. But there was no complaining now, and besides, it was somewhat comforting to be carrying two loaded Berettas in addition to the handgun that ZAFT had stashed for him inside the Impulse's cockpit. It was dark, but there were ceiling lights mounted every few yards that cast some dim illumination through the tunnel. It was a straight tunnel with two metal-grate walkways on either side, and a deep canal filled with rotting, stinking sewage running down the center. The walkways seemed intended for the poor souls who had to maintain and repair this thing, to keep them from having to wade through the scum. Shinn cast a disgusted glance at the slime oozing past and shook his head again.

"Of all the places," he muttered. They came to a fork, with thin metal walkways mounted over the intersections of the canal. "Where does the map say we should go, Stella?"

Stella pointed to the right, and they both headed down into the darkness. It was not long, however, before they came upon a problem.

Shinn and Stella hid behind a tangle of pipes as they heard footsteps. Soldiers were approaching—Shinn glanced out from behind cover and saw two Earth Alliance soldiers, clad in olive-green versions of the standard Alliance uniform, decked out in flak jackets, combat helmets, and gas masks, toting assault rifles and flashlights.

"I can't believe we have to check this place," one of the soldiers grumbled, his voice muffled and tinny by the mask. "Who would come in through here anyways? Nobody could be so dedicated as to wade through a maze full of shit."

"I know," the other agreed, just as irritated. "We'd know if they even managed to make it this far in anyways."

Shinn glanced over his shoulder at Stella; she glanced back, but something had changed. The usual light in her eyes had gone out, replaced by a dull, animal kind of focus and concentration. Shinn bristled as he heard the quiet sound of a knife pulled from its sheath.

"There's nothing in this block," the first soldier muttered. "Come on, let's check—"

Stella lunged out of hiding, wielding a huge curved combat knife with frightful precision. The first soldier never knew what hit him—Stella had cut his throat and nearly sawed his head off within moments. The second soldier let out a cry of alarm and tried to raise his rifle, but Stella darted straight at him and buried her knife to the hilt in his neck, jabbing out the back of his head, and with a gruesome spray of blood, the second soldier collapsed backwards, Stella's knife pointing straight out of his throat. Stella calmly retrieved her blade and wiped the blood off on the soldier's sleeve, returned it to the sheath at her side, and looked up at Shinn.

Shinn stared wordlessly at her.

"Holy shit," he said at last. Stella blinked confusedly at him, and Shinn just shook his head. "Well, at least we can get their masks." He removed both soldiers' gas masks and tossed one at Stella. Before they left, they took up both soldiers' fallen rifles and shoved their corpses into the canal.

"The records office is a ways from here," Shinn said soberly. "We should hurry."

They both took off at a jog down the walkway, into the darkness.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, near the Marshall Colony, Lagrange Point 3

"No one seems to have noticed us yet," Mike said nervously, glancing over his shoulder at Mev on the darkened bridge. The _Kasselheim_ was drifting on the perimeter of the Marshall Colony's defensive network, lights darkened so as not to provide too obvious a target for the Marshall Colony's defenders.

Mev glanced over at Viima. "How long do you think we can stay here?" he asked.

Viima crossed her arms, staring contemptibly at the colony. "Probably another half an hour," she said. "Normally they wouldn't make the first move until we get too close, but if we just stay here, sooner or later they'll get suspicious."

"Should we move, then?" Mike asked. Mev glanced at Viima again, and she shook her head.

"We have to stay here as long as we can," Mev said, looking back at Mike. "Shinn and Stella would have to go looking for us otherwise."

He sat back, and cast a dour glance at Kika, as she stared nervously at the Marshall Colony.

"The defense net will be back online soon," Viima added. "Now it's all up to them."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Marshall Colony, Lagrange Point 3

Three more Atlantic Federation soldiers had died for their country by the time Shinn and Stella finally found an access hatch out of the sewers and, hopefully, into the records office. Shinn scrambled up a ladder built into the wall and put his ear against the hatch, finding no sound beyond the metal that he could detect, even with his heightened Coordinator senses.

Another presence pricked another sense instead—Shinn felt the familiar pressure of a human life, just beyond the hatch.

"What are we goin' in here for?" a voice asked, muffled and quiet through the metal. Shinn glanced back down at Stella, and she took his place at the top of the ladder, drawing her enormous knife.

"Some guys went in earlier and haven't been heard from since," another voice answered. "Probably some of those dumbass recruits forgot their radios and shit."

"Idiots," the first voice agreed. The hatch opened—

It was all over within moments. Stella dumped the two bleeding corpses down the hatch and pulled Shinn out, and they both took stock of their new situation.

They were behind a stack of crates near what looked like a warehouse, at one end of the colony. There were barracks everywhere, but this appeared to be the guards' quarters. There was an imposing building rising into the artificial air not far away, guarded by a Strike Dagger and a Buster Dagger, with another Strike Dagger tramping by.

"Is that it?" Shinn asked in a whisper, glancing at Stella. She consulted the map and nodded wordlessly; Shinn looked back at it in frustration. "How are we gonna get in with those mobile suits there?" he murmured.

He glanced over the area surrounding the records office. The Strike Dagger and the Buster Dagger cast sweeping glances over the colony landscape; Shinn and Stella huddled behind a crate as searchlights built into their heads swept over their position.

"We have to find some way over there," Shinn murmured to Stella. He glanced back at her. "Any ideas?"

"...distract," Stella murmured. "...distract them."

Shinn glanced back at the mobile suits. "Hang on," he said. "I have a better idea."

He looked over towards a building behind them. It was a massive block of concrete, and a squad of Strike Daggers guarded the closest end to Shinn and Stella. Shinn could barely make out the words "cellblock 08" stamped over a set of doors. It was not too far away, but to get there, they would have to go right between the legs of one of the Strike Daggers, and that was _sure_ to catch their attention.

"...too many enemies," Stella whispered, looking around at the Daggers in front of the cellblock, and the Daggers guarding the records office.

Shinn consulted Stella's map and checked the layout of the sewers again. He glanced back up at the cellblock, and focused his attention on one section.

"Stella," he whispered, catching her attention. "We can sneak into the cellblock and start a riot there to distract the guards. Then we can sneak over to the records office."

Stella nodded. Shinn looked up at her again, still surprised by her ruthless expression, her stoicism in the face of this nerve-wracking assignment. Was this really how the Extended were supposed to operate, in their true element?

They returned to the sewer. Another guard appeared—Stella took him down with a vicious backhanded knife slash that ripped his throat out and sent him splashing into the muck. Shinn bit back a curse and quickly pulled Stella behind another tangle of pipes as they heard footsteps and saw a flashlight beam from around a corner.

"You hear something?" a voice asked. A soldier emerged, wielding a flashlight and a rifle.

"A splash," the soldier with the flashlight answered. "What the hell anyone would want to be putting in there is beyond me, though." The second appeared as well, rifle held loosely in one hand.

Shinn hissed under his breath and popped up from behind cover, squeezing off two rounds from his assault rifle. The first struck the first soldier in the side of the head, and he went down with a wordless, strangled grunt, into the muck. The second, however, struck the second soldier in the arm, and even as he reeled and his rifle went clattering away, he widened his eyes and Shinn realized that the guard had seen them.

"Intruders!" the soldier screamed. "Intruders! Over here! In—"

Stella silenced him with another gunshot, but the damage had been done. Shinn cursed under his breath as he heard urgent footsteps. He glanced back at Stella, and they scrambled back up the ladder and locked the hatch behind them, and both took cover behind the original stack of crates.

"Shit," Shinn muttered. "Now what?"

Stella crept around the corner, and Shinn followed her gaze towards a walkway suspended overhead, casting a dark shadow over the ground. She crept back around the other way, glancing towards the cellblock and the Dagger squad there.

"What are you doing?" Shinn whispered urgently. Stella produced an incendiary grenade and pulled the pin out with her teeth, rearing back and pausing a moment. Shinn's eyes widened. "Wait—"

The grenade went sailing forward, clattering towards the Daggers, and exploded into a forceful fireball. Stella dragged Shinn behind cover as the Daggers reeled backwards in shock. The Strike Dagger and the Buster Dagger stomped towards the Dagger squad in front of the cellblock, and Stella glanced pointedly at Shinn.

"Never mind," he said, feeling stupid. "Let's go."

Using the shadows cast by the walkway, Shinn and Stella raced towards the records office and crept along the walls, hiding in the cover of darkness. Shinn glanced down towards another access hatch to the sewers, and as he passed it, locked it. It would not be long before the guards began to search the surface as well—they had to work quickly.

The records office appeared locked for the night, patrolled by the odd guard. Under the cover of shadow, Shinn hotwired a door to bypass its lock, while Stella kept a careful watch. The door opened—the two infiltrators hid on either side of the open door as a quizzical guard wandered out, wondering what was going on. Stella took him down with a lightning-quick knife slash, she and Shinn dragged his corpse into the darkness, and they both proceeded through the door.

Their first problem was immediate. They had entered into a lobby—six guards were there, guns drawn, waiting for them behind the cover of tables and chairs and counters. Shinn barely had time to stare at them in disbelief—before even they could open fire, Stella tackled Shinn and sent him to the ground, kicking up a nearby table for cover as they fell and the guards opened fire.

"Shit!" Shinn grunted. "We don't have time for this!"

"Grenade!" one of the soldiers shouted. Stella's eyes narrowed and a moment later, after the sound of a grunt that had to have been from the soldier who threw the requested grenade, Stella darted out from behind cover, leaping into the air, and kicking the grenade in midair back towards the guards who threw it. They barely had time to gasp in surprise—one healthy explosion later, they were no longer a problem. Shinn stared disbelievingly at Stella as she landed.

She took off at a sprint through the impromptu crater, and Shinn followed, tossing a glance over his shoulder. The rest of the guards in the complex had surely heard that, but it was too late now.

Shinn and Stella raced down a corridor—a moment later, Stella shoved Shinn into a doorway, while she leapt into an adjacent one, just in time for two guards to fill the corridor with machinegun fire. Shinn grunted and glanced at Stella—she was as ruthless-looking as ever.

The gunfire stopped for a moment; Shinn leapt out from behind cover and cut the soldiers down with an assault rifle burst of his own as the guards desperately reloaded their machineguns. The two infiltrators took off again, coming onto a walkway with an array of staircases stretching up higher into the building on the right, and a corresponding array of balconies looming overhead. Stella shouldered Shinn to ground, diving with him, as a silenced sniper round ricocheted off the floor—before they had even hit the ground, Stella had fired four rounds into the air above them, and two strangled cries were there to signify two more casualties.

Stella dragged Shinn back to his feet before he could even think anything and shoved him into the shadows, covering him with a spray of rifle fire.

"Dammit," Shinn panted, stumbling up against the wall and staring disbelievingly at Stella. She was the perfect soldier; fearless, damn near omniscient, inhumanly accurate, blindingly fast—_this_ was what she was meant to do.

The last sniper died with a sickening splatter, and Stella glanced at Shinn.

"It's downstairs," he said. The two infiltrators took off for the stairs. Another guard shouted at them to stop—on the landing on the floor directly below the ground floor, Stella leapt up, twirling in midair 360 degrees and blowing off the soldier's head at the top of the staircase. They kept going, diving through a doorway as another pair of guards opened fire. Stella left a grenade behind as they followed, and the explosion brought the door down behind them.

Shinn rammed open the next door with his shoulder and instinct took over as he silenced the room's five occupants with a burst of rifle fire. He glanced around, finding arrays of computer terminals, and then looked back at Stella.

"I think I've found what we're looking for," he said. "Lock the doors and cover me." As Stella began locking the doors, Shinn activated the first terminal, cracked his knuckles, and set to work.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battleship _Kasselheim_, near the Marshall Colony, Lagrange Point 3

Mike glanced grimly at Mev as he read the reports. "The defense network's back up at 100," he said dourly. "And they've released an alert for the capture of two intruders."

"That didn't take long," Yun groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"They'll probably be more concerned about locking down the prisoners," Viima put in, crossing her arms. "That's where most intruders go. They wouldn't expect us to be hitting the records office."

"Have we overstayed our welcome?" Mev asked, arching an inquisitive eyebrow at Mike. He consulted his console.

"I don't see anything, sir," he said soberly.

Mev sat back, intrigued. "Yun, keep the weapons on standby," he ordered. "Have the mobile suits ready to launch at a moment's notice. This will get interesting."

At her station, Kika looked nervously at the colony as she transmitted the orders to the mobile suit pilots.

_Come back, Shinn,_ she thought anxiously. _You promised me_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Marshall Colony, Lagrange Point 3

"_Bastards!_"

Shinn had always had his suspicions that the Seirans were a bunch of greedy warmongers, but this just proved it. Right there, in green text on black background, was an invoice from Jona Roma Seiran for three prisoners in the colony, earmarked for a gruesome transformation into "biological CPUs," and something to do with a "Socius" project. He downloaded every byte of data he could find, as Stella anxiously looked around the room. There was surely enough documentation of evil deals in here to put away the leader of every nation of the world, but that would have to wait until another day. He pocketed a disk and glanced at Stella.

"We got what we came for," he said. "How are we going to get out of here?"

Stella glanced up at the ceiling and hurled another incendiary grenade into a light fixture, leaving it in place as she and Shinn took cover. The blast blew open the ceiling, and the two infiltrators leapt on top of one of the computer terminals to hop up through the hole in the ceiling.

As they emerged back into the lobby on the ground floor, Shinn found himself facing down no less than twenty armed guards, all toting a vast and frightening array of firearms. Stella dragged him behind the sturdy bole of a metal counter as the guards opened fire, and Shinn took up his rifle in frustration.

"Goddammit!" he growled. "We don't need this!"

He glanced angrily towards what he thought was the direction the _Kasselheim_ was.

_I promised you..._

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battleship _Kasselheim_, near the Marshall Colony, Lagrange Point 3

The main screen came on with a flash, and to even Mev's surprise, the bridge crew of the _Kasselheim_ was suddenly face to face with a grim-faced operator on the Marshall Colony.

He eyed Viima suspiciously for a moment. "Attention unidentified vessel," he said tonelessly. "You are loitering in the restricted perimeter airspace of this colony. State your ship name, captain name, and business here."

"We're having engine trouble," Mev said just as tonelessly. "We'll need a little more time to fix them, and then we'll be on our way."

The operator was not ruffled. "Shall you require assistance, then?" he asked coldly. "Our men will be happy to help you fix your troubled engine."

"No, we'll manage on our own," Mev said smoothly, unperturbed by the operator's veiled threat. "Thank you for your offer but we wouldn't want to trouble you."

The operator cut the transmission. Mike, Yun, and Kika stared worriedly at Mev, and he sat back.

"Time is running out," he said, sitting back, stoic as ever.

"They'll make it," Viima said suddenly, drawing surprised looks from everyone. She scowled. "They have to."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Marshall Colony, Lagrange Point 3

"Here's the plan," Shinn grunted, pausing just long enough to pop up from behind cover and squeeze off a single shot. As he hid, he heard a scream from the sixth soldier shot down as he collapsed backwards. Shinn glanced at Stella. "We'll get out and lead them on a wild goose chase, and then go back into the sewers and get back to our Gundams. I saw a motorcycle outside. It'll do."

Stella nodded; a round of machinegun bullets slammed into the wall above them. Stella rolled out from behind the counter on her shoulder, spraying a volley of return fire over the soldiers and taking down two of them, before she rolled back behind the cover of a pillar.

The soldiers began to move in; Shinn lunged back up to take down three more soldiers. Stella charged straight towards them, knife drawn—Shinn opened his mouth to say something, anything, but what happened next silenced him.

The soldiers had no idea what hit them. Before they even realized Stella was up, she had cut down the twelfth soldier, and stormed right through him to shoot the thirteenth and fourteenth in the head. The remaining five drew back in disbelief, moving to surround her. Stella ducked down to avoid their gunshots, and Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief as he watched a bullet ricochet off the flat blade of Stella's knife and into another soldier's forehead. A moment later, Stella shot down two more soldiers, and the last two backed away in horror from the unstoppable Extended—just long enough for Shinn to take them down with two gunshots.

The soldiers collapsed gruesomely, and Shinn stared incredulously at Stella, her knife dripping with fresh blood, smoke curling off the barrel of her gun. He shook his head—he had no time for that. They had to get going.

They escaped through a window and leapt onto a sleek motorcycle that seemed to intended for patrolling the colony. The soldier it belonged to had left the keys in; even though the area seethed with more soldiers, they were too late to stop him from turning the ignition and taking off with a roar.

Shinn cast an anxious glance over his shoulder, finding Stella clinging determinedly to him.

"We'll make them think we ditched and ran off over the surface," he said, "and we'll return to the sewers." Stella nodded. "We've got to—"

There was an explosion—Shinn struggled to maintain control of the bike, and looked disbelievingly over his shoulder. There were three Strike Daggers following him, backed up by two helicopters, all spewing rounds at him. Shinn cursed and hit the accelerator, slaloming through two buildings as the rounds tore up the concrete and dirt beneath him.

"Hang on!" Shinn shouted. He heard the distinctive noise of a beam rifle blast—he saw the rifle shot coming towards him, landing at an intersection between four blocks of buildings in front of him—he snaked along the side of the buildings as the beam rifle smashed into the intersection with a thunderous explosion, and took off under the cover of the smoke. The helicopters accelerated after him.

"Shinn!" Stella exclaimed.

"I know!" Shinn shouted back. He narrowed his eyes and dove into a sharp turn, tires squealing against the ground. The lead helicopter tried to follow his maneuver and parked itself over the road, spewing firepower after the retreating motorcycle, just in time for the second helicopter to plow into it and destroy them both in midair.

The mobile suits continued to pursue with a flurry of CIWS fire, sending shards of concrete flying. Shinn glared back at them—they would be more difficult to topple, but they were still destructible.

A thick yellow beam smashed into the ground up ahead; Shinn slammed on the brakes and hooked into a narrow alley, flashing down the narrow passage and bursting out with a flash over the baffled heads of two guards. Shinn cast a quick glance to his left, finding the Buster Dagger pursuing, its guns docked and ready.

"They're using a hyper impulse cannon inside a colony!" he exclaimed as the motorcycle landed. "Are they insane?!"

"Shinn!" Stella cried out worriedly.

"Hang on!" he shouted back. "This'll get rough!"

Shinn curved the motorcycle around and charged at the mobile suits. They paused for a moment, their pilots probably baffled that Shinn was coming at them on a motorcycle. Shinn charged towards them, dodging CIWS fire, and zipped by the first Dagger's legs. The second and third opened fire anyways, cutting the first Dagger's legs out from underneath it and sending the crippled mobile suit to the ground with a crash. Shinn raced off behind the remaining two Daggers—the second turned to fire, but both Daggers toppled from a poorly aimed CIWS burst from the Buster Dagger.

"It's a damn good thing they have no aim!" Shinn grunted. "Come on, Stella! It's time to get out of here!" Another helicopter was charging after them, and launched a missile. Shinn felt his entire body go cold as he saw the missile streak towards them. "Jump off when I say!" Shinn screamed. Stella nodded wordlessly, clinging to him. Shinn sent the motorcycle into a sharp turn, blocking the helicopter's view of the motorcycle with a building. The tires shrieked and sparks flew—Shinn clenched his teeth—

"_NOW!_"

Shinn and Stella leapt off the bike and rolled away from it as the missile streaked into it and sent them both tumbling away from a thunderous explosion. Shinn grunted and helped Stella to her feet; they both leapt into the closest sewer access hatch, and slammed the hatch shut just as the helicopter rounded the corner, surveying the crater that was once the motorcycle.

Inside the sewers, Shinn and Stella broke into a full sprint, guided by Stella's map. A guard rose up to stop them—Stella hurled her knife at him, slicing his throat open, and kept going without missing a beat, seizing the knife by its upturned grip as she passed. They raced wordlessly through the darkness, knowing that in the end, all that mattered was returning to their mobile suits. Shinn felt his entire body go hot with determination. He had promised Kika to return. He had to get back. He had to make sure Stella got back safe and sound. He had to get back to Kika. He could not fail. Not now.

A guard leapt out of nowhere to attack; Shinn took him down with a gunshot before he could raise his rifle, and the two infiltrators kept going. The territory began to look familiar. Shinn and Stella threw themselves against a wall as the opening to the sewage outlet came into view, and glanced urgently towards their Gundams. A platoon of soldiers had gathered near the Gundams' feet, as if awaiting reinforcements. Shinn glanced at Stella, and she hurled her last grenade at the feet of a group of a half-dozen soldiers. They vanished in a fireball; Shinn and Stella took down the rest with a rapid burst of gunfire, and abandoned their rifles, leaping back into their mobile suits. As the Gaia returned to life, Shinn activated the Impulse in a flurry of pressed buttons and thrown switches. The Force Impulse's eyes flashed a vehement green; it turned around and joined the Gaia in slicing open the airlock with its beam saber.

The airlock doors vanished into space. The Impulse and the Gaia took off with a roar.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battleship _Kasselheim_, near the Marshall Colony, Lagrange Point 3

"Are you getting a read yet?" Mev asked, looking pointedly at Mike. Even he sounded urgent by now. Mike checked his instruments but shook his head grimly.

"All I can tell is that there's an intruder alert," he said. "I don't see anything else going on."

"We've probably overstayed our welcome by now," Viima warned.

Kika looked anxiously at the colony.

_You have to get out, Shinn..._

"Captain!" Mike screamed suddenly. "I'm picking something up!"

"Is it them?" Mev asked. Mike stared at his screen; his face went white.

"It's not them," he said in disbelief. "It's..._way_ more than them."

"What do you mean?" Viima snapped. Mike turned, his face ashen, staring up at Mev.

"They're mobile suits, captain," Mike said, "and they're heading straight towards us!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	29. Phase 29: The Rogue Hero

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 29 - The Rogue Hero

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 11th, CE 73 - Near the Marshall Colony, Lagrange Point 3

The machineguns weren't a problem—none of them could do anything to the Gaia or Force Impulse Gundams' Phase Shift armor. The Strike Daggers pursuing from the colony weren't even a problem—although they had beam weapons, they were so old and outdated that the Gaia and Impulse could easily just outrun them.

However, as Shinn and Stella emerged into what Shinn guessed was the middle portion of the Marshall Colony's defense ring, the formation of Strike Daggers and warships arrayed before them suggested that there might indeed be a problem.

Even as the Strike Daggers swarmed, Shinn cast a furious glance over their shoulders at the ships that had launched them. Two _Drake_-class cruisers and a _Nelson_-class battleship—nothing major. But getting past the mobile suits was the first part.

The Impulse slalomed between a volley of beam shots and fired back, taking down one Dagger at once. The rest pulled back behind their shields; Stella rocketed over their heads, shooting down another with a well-placed beam rifle shot. Some of the Daggers broke off to pursue the Gaia; Shinn grunted in frustration, pulling back behind a CIWS burst, as the rest followed him.

"We don't have time for this!" he screamed. The Daggers charged; Shinn switched to his beam saber and charged back, and before the Dagger pilots could do anything to stop him, he had already sliced three Daggers in half at the waist. The Daggers pulled away with a beam rifle volley, forcing Shinn to dive through their blasts and switch back to his rifle. Another Dagger rose up behind him, beam saber at the ready—Shinn swung around to face it—

Before it could fire, the Gaia took it down with a beam rifle shot to the torso. Shinn swung around again, shooting down another Strike Dagger as he dodged another beam shot. The Daggers pulled back again, regrouping and opening fire again. Shinn's eyes flashed; the Impulse and the Gaia dove aside, returning fire and spearing another two Daggers.

"We have to get back to the ship!" Shinn shouted, as the Impulse took cover behind its shield and took off over another volley of beam blasts. The Gaia jetted to the side and fired back with its beam cannons, taking down two more Daggers; as they turned their fire on the Gaia, Shinn swept in to spear three more mobile suits on beam rifle shots, and before they could fire on him again, he drew his saber and cut down two more. The Daggers finally pulled back; Shinn glanced over at Stella. "Let's go, before they get back here!"

The Gaia took off without a word, storming towards the ships; Shinn grunted and took off after her.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The GINN High Maneuver II rattled under the force of another Dagger's explosion, and Miki glanced over her shoulder at the _Kasselheim_. It hadn't taken any catastrophic damage yet, but it wouldn't be long before it did.

The sensors shrieked; Miki looked back up with a yelp of surprise and barely deflected a Dagger's beam rifle shot with her shield, pulling back and returning fire. The Daggers swept in around her; she looked around nervously for an escape path—

A moment later, two of the Daggers vanished in a blaze of fire, and Zora's GuAIZ burst from the smoke, spewing beam rifle shots at the remaining Daggers. They pulled back again, clawing for distance, but not before Zora's GuAIZ managed to score two more kills with its extensional arrestors.

"What are you doing?!" Zora exclaimed, pulling up protectively in front of the GINN HM II and glancing back at it. "Pay attention!"

The GuAIZ took off into the battle; Miki scowled and turned her beam carbine on another Dagger, dodging its fire in the process. Her shots slammed uselessly against the Dagger's shield; another beam rifle shot took it down, and Gan's GINN Assault dropped into the battle, wielding its own carbine.

"Miki! Come with me, we've got problems!" Gan exclaimed. Miki blinked in surprise.

"We don't already?!" she shot back; a beam rifle blast tore across space in front of her, and she instinctively jetted backwards and fired back, catching an attacking Dagger off guard and wiping it out. Miki's eyes lit up in delight. "I got one!"

"Never mind that!" George's voice interrupted insistently. "Look to the _Kasselheim_'s starboard side! We've got more company!"

Miki glanced over the _Kasselheim_—her eyes widened in disbelief. Arrayed in the asteroid field and closing fast were five _Drake_-class cruisers, two _Nelson_-class battleships, and an _Agamemnon_-class carrier, all sporting refitted mobile suit catapults and launching yet more Strike Daggers.

"No fair!" Miki wailed.

Chris's 105 Dagger armed its beam rifle. "If this were fair, Shinn and Stella would be back here already!" he shouted back. "We'll just have to make do until they get back!"  
"Come on, all of you, let's go!" George added, as his CGUE charged towards the oncoming ships. "We have to hold out until they get back!"

Miki gulped nervously and fired the booster. She cast an anxious glance at the Marshall Colony.

_Come on, you two...hurry up!_

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation _Agamemnon_-class carrier _James K Polk_, near the Marshall Colony

Lieutenant General James Anderson did not fail to appreciate the irony of it all.

A dour, skeletal man in his mid-fifties, he had his hawkish, narrow face turned towards the main monitor on the bridge of the _James K Polk_, sitting in the captain's chair, arms crossed, one leg draped over the other. Ahead of his ship was a small army of mobile suits, a morass of asteroids studded with defensive machinegun turrets, and the embattled pirate battlecruiser _Kasselheim_.

And on the monitor was an image of the _Kasselheim_'s modest bridge. The captain looked to be an immovable rock, but it was not the captain that Anderson was interested in.

"Viima," he said, an amused and sadistic smirk playing at his lips, "you've come back."

Even on the screen, Anderson could see Viima trembling with rage. She had grown a little taller and her face looked a little colder...but that body of hers was probably as warm as ever. Anderson chuckled darkly.

"Captain Haskell," he said, glancing at the _Polk_'s skipper, "order the mobile suits to halt and await my command."

The order went out; the Strike Daggers halted in their charge and arrayed themselves imposingly in front of the _Kasselheim_ and its beleaguered mobile suits. Anderson crossed his arms again and smirked. The _Kasselheim_'s captain stared impassively at him, while Viima struggled to keep her rage in check.

"Greetings, pirate scum," he said, making a conscious effort to sound melodramatic, purely to offend Viima further. "I am Lieutenant General James Anderson, commandant of the Marshall Colony. I am here to make you an offer." He paused and smiled sardonically at a furious Viima. "You have fought bravely and stupidly. You are now, however, outnumbered, outgunned, and surrounded. You have no choice but to surrender. Do so at once and your lives will be spared. What say you?"

"Are you mad?!" a woman on the other hand asked.

"No way!" added another woman.

A blond-haired man stood up and promptly answered Anderson with his middle finger.

The captain sat back, linking his fingers together over his lap. "My crew has spoken," he said calmly. He glanced to his left. "And you, Viima?"

Viima stared hatefully at Anderson. "I'd sooner die than be back at your mercy," she spat.

Anderson scowled—how dare they refuse him! And with such vulgar means!

"Very well then," he said stiffly. He consciously forced himself to smirk again. "My men will bring you back to me, Viima, and we'll see if you'll still be so resistant."

The screen went dark, and Anderson chuckled.

"Captain Haskell," he said, glancing at the skipper again, "kill them."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Near the Marshall Colony

The _Drake_-class cruiser split apart into a handful of arms of fire, before finally dying in a violent explosion. Shinn snorted in disgust—these things weren't worth the time. He turned and shot down another Strike Dagger as it tried to sneak up on him, and glanced over at Stella's twisting and turning Gaia Gundam.

The second _Drake_ was protected by what seemed to be its Strike Dagger complement. The Gaia slithered through the Daggers' ranks, drawing a beam saber and cutting down one of them as she charged. The _Drake_'s anti-air Vulcan turret angled to open fire, as the Daggers swept in from behind; the Gaia jetted to the side as the Vulcan turret opened fire, slashing another Dagger to ribbons before it could correct its aim. Stella promptly slashed the turret off and switched back to her rifle, shooting down another Dagger. Shinn swept in to finish the Daggers off with a beam rifle volley, and Stella swung around again, putting a rifle blast through the _Drake_'s bridge and another two through the _Drake_'s engines. As the ship began to break apart in a plume of fire, the two Gundams took off towards the _Nelson_.

"We'll have to do this quickly," Shinn grunted, as the Impulse rattled under a hail of machinegun fire. "We don't have time for this shit."

"They're afraid," Stella said. Shinn watched the Daggers as they pulled back around the battleship; he almost smirked.

"Of course they are," he agreed. "They have nightmares about pilots like us." He glanced at Stella and finally let himself smirk. "Come on, Stella. Let's make their nightmares come true."

Stella nodded enthusiastically, and the two Gundams charged. The Daggers opened fire; Stella glanced over at Shinn.

"Shinn! Get the mobile suits!" she shouted quickly, before taking off towards the _Nelson_. The Daggers raised their rifles to attack, but were forced to defend themselves as Shinn took down three Daggers in as many shots, storming into their ranks. Stella shot by overhead, charging towards the battleship. Its guns turned towards her, ribbons of machinegun fire lashing out towards her, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off the Gaia's Phase Shift armor. "You aren't scary!" Stella shouted; the Gaia fired back, wiping out the _Nelson_'s ventral turret with its beam rifle. The Daggers desperately tried to turn their firepower back on the Gaia, but Shinn was there to stop them again. Stella drew a beam saber and darted in over the battleship's hull, slicing off the upper mandible of its portside catapult in the process. The saber went plunging into the battleship's hull, and struck a missile magazine, blowing part of the ship apart. The battleship began to list, its guns still firing wildly; Stella turned her eyes on the bridge and charged, beam saber raised for a killing blow. A Dagger rose up above the ship's bridge to stop her—a beam rifle shot from Shinn speared it and took it down in a violent explosion—

Stella's beam saber plunged into the _Nelson_'s bridge. She cut down into the battleship's hull and used the Gaia's legs to force the molten wound open. Shinn blazed in with a scream and landed three beam blasts into the battleship's exposed innards. The ship began to break apart; the Daggers pulled back in shock, and Shinn and Stella whipped around and turned their firepower on the stunned mobile suits, wiping out the remaining machines as the battleship exploded.

The two Gundams took off again, angling towards the _Kasselheim_.

"Shit!" Shinn grunted, staring ahead at the ship's position. It was desperately trying to put some distance between itself and no less than eight enemy warships. The _Kasselheim_'s mobile suits were just as desperately trying to keep from getting killed by a small army of Strike Daggers. The _Kasselheim_ couldn't fight back, as the enemy ships forced it to continue evading.

"Shinn!" Stella exclaimed. "They're in trouble!"

"I know!" Shinn shouted back. His hands gripped the Impulse's controls tightly, as he felt his entire body burn with determination. The Impulse and Gaia rocketed ahead.

"Will they be okay?" Stella asked urgently.

Shinn scowled, his teeth grinding.

"They'll be okay," he said, his voice tremulous with energy. "_I'll make sure of it!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Where _ARE_ they?!" Zora shouted, as her GuAIZ went into a nosedive to avoid another squadron of Daggers. She promptly slammed on the brakes, storming back upwards and igniting the beam claws, slicing apart two Daggers as they overtook her. The others wheeled around to return fire, but not before she picked another out of the black sky with her beam rifle.

"Just concentrate on the battle!" George shouted back. His CGUE drew its laser sword and slammed it down through a charging Dagger; another rose to his left, but before it could fire, he turned and perforated it with a Vulcan blaze that sent it spiraling into the darkness, spewing smoke.

Zora's GuAIZ swung around again, spearing two more Daggers on its extensional arrestors, but another rose up behind her, beam saber raised. She swung around, only to see a beam rifle shot slam it out of the sky, and Chris's 105 Dagger dropped down behind her to deflect another beam shot aimed at her back.

"We have to hold out as long as we can," Chris said, his voice as calm as ever.

Miki's GINN HM II shot by with Gan's GINN Assault, both taking cover behind their shields and firing back with their carbines. Zora dove over their lines of fire, squeezing off a pair of beam shots to take down two of the five pursuing Daggers. Another three rose back up to fire, and Zora was forced back on the defensive.

"Well, it won't be much longer!" she grunted back at Chris, as the shots slammed against the GuAIZ's shield.

"They'll be back soon!" Miki cried, even as the Daggers effortlessly dodged her beam carbine blasts. "We just have to keep fighting!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation _Agamemnon_-class carrier _James K Polk_, near the Marshall Colony

On the bridge of the _Polk_, General Anderson chuckled, watching as the _Kasselheim_'s mobile suits desperately tried to defend themselves, and the ship desperately tried to avoid getting hit.

"They're not going down easily," Captain Haskell grunted. "Fire another beam cannon barrage at their bow! Force them to stop, and we'll let the other ships tear them apart!"

Anderson watched the four green bolts lance out towards the _Kasselheim_, and as expected, the _Kasselheim_ dove down under the blasts and kept going. He smiled as the other ships cut off its escape path, forcing it to turn back towards the fleet. Even if it opened fire now, its position was helpless—the combined firepower of the eight Marshall Colony warships would crush the power of this cobbled-together pirate scrap heap.

Anderson, to that end, held up his hand again. Haskell ordered the mobile suits and ships to cease fire, and the battlefield went silent as the Strike Daggers surrounded their prey. The screen flickered to life, showing the bridge of the _Kasselheim_ once again, and Viima still glowering at Anderson's smirking face.

"Now you have been forced into a corner and once again fought down," Anderson began, crossing his arms and draping one leg over the other again, sitting back amusedly. "Facing imminent death and having been demonstrably outgunned and outmaneuvered, what do you say now to our offer?"

Viima stepped forward before Mev spoke. "You can go to hell, Anderson," she snapped. "We won't give you the satisfaction of taking us prisoner."

The Strike Daggers raised their beam rifles threateningly at their quarry.

"Is that so?" Anderson asked, arching an eyebrow, smirking deviously.

Viima's hateful stare was all the confirmation he needed. Anderson glanced at the _Kasselheim_'s captain.

"I abide by the decision of my executive officer," he said calmly, staring back stoically at Anderson. "We will see you in hell, General."

Anderson chuckled once again, shaking his head. "Stubborn to the end, I see," he said. "Well, if that's the way you want it to end, so be it. Captain Haskell—"

He never got to finish. Immediately behind and above the _Polk_, the rearguard _Drake_ was speared on a quartet of beam shots and torn apart in a vicious explosion. The shockwave rocked the _Polk_, throwing Anderson forward and nearly out of his seat.

"What was that?!" he demanded, seizing the armrests of his seat to steady himself.

"The _Chattanooga_, sir!" one of the men called out. "She's gone down!"

"_What?!_" Anderson shrieked. "There's nobody else out here! What the hell hit it?!"

"Heat sources detected!" another man exclaimed. "Two of them, approaching fast! But these—"

"What are they?!" Captain Haskell demanded, rising back to his feet angrily.

"They're Gundams!"

Anderson's face went white. "_Gundams?!_" he echoed incredulously. He turned his disbelieving eyes towards the debris field that had once been the _Chattanooga_. The screen image zoomed in; Anderson felt his blood freeze.

"Good God, that's the Impulse!" a voice cried. "_That's Shinn Asuka!_"

Inside the charging Force Impulse Gundam, Shinn let out a scream. The seed burst in his mind's eye; his eyes went dull, and he opened fire again.

"Attack them!" Anderson screamed, his eyes wide. "Mobile suits! Shoot them down! _Now!_"

The Strike Daggers abandoned the _Kasselheim_'s exhausted mobile suits and charged to defense of their motherships. Shinn snorted disgustedly.

"They're scared too," Stella observed quietly. "They're scared of Shinn."

The Impulse rocketed ahead. Shinn scowled at the charging Daggers.

"I won't let you," he growled. The Daggers opened fire; Shinn dodged their shots effortlessly. The white energy cracked through the air before him as he fired back, taking down Dagger after Dagger as they desperately tried to evade. "_I won't let you,_" he growled again, twisting around to catch two more Daggers, diving through more beam fire all the while.

The Daggers stormed around the Impulse, but three more were taken down by a trio of beam shots, and the Gaia Gundam roared into the fray with another beam barrage that shot down three more Daggers. The Daggers desperately tried to turn their fire on the Gaia, but the Impulse opened fire again to take down two more Daggers.

"Stella! I'll leave them to you!" Shinn cried.

"Right!" Stella answered with an emphatic nod, even as she dove through beam fire and returned it just as ferociously. Shinn turned his burning gaze towards the warships as they slowly arced around to turn their fire on the two unstoppable Gundams.

"You," he snarled, taking off towards the first _Drake_-class. "You won't touch them!" He drew a beam saber, plowing through the _Drake_'s frenzied machinegun fire. Two Daggers rose up to stop him; he tore through them effortlessly with his saber and stabbed it into the _Drake_'s bridge; mimicking the move Stella had used, he forced open the wound with the Impulse's legs and deposited a barrage of CIWS fire into the _Drake_'s innards. The ship snapped in two like a twig, broken on a massive fireball that Shinn didn't bother to watch as he took off for the next _Drake_.

On the bridge of the _Kasselheim_, all was silent as everyone stared in disbelief at the two rampaging Gundams.

"Shinn...he's unstoppable," Yun murmured in disbelief.

"...he came back," Kika whispered, holding herself, trembling.

Shinn screamed again inside the Impulse, tearing down another Dagger as it tried to protect the second _Drake_. The Impulse streaked past the _Drake_'s starboard side, dipping its beam saber into the hull and slicing a long gash along the ship's side. As he approached the engines, he somersaulted up, over a desperate flurry of machinegun fire and missiles, and slammed his saber down through the _Drake_'s bridge. With another yell, he charged forward and ripped his saber into the _Drake_'s engines. The ship began to break apart into an enormous fireball; Shinn darted away, angling towards the _Polk_.

On the bridge of the _Polk_, Anderson was glued to his seat in horror.

"He took out two ships with a beam saber!" Haskell exclaimed.

"_He's not human!_" Anderson screamed.

"Shoot him down!" Haskell roared. "Don't let him get close!"

The _Polk_'s high-energy beam cannons flashed to life; Shinn snarled in disgust and switched to his beam rifle, easily spearing the starboard turret on a beam rifle shot. He slammed down onto the ship's hull and pumped beam rounds into it, drawing out plumes of fire as he hit ammunition stores and fuel tanks. The Strike Daggers roared in; a blaze of beam shots from the Gaia and the _Kasselheim_'s mobile suits stopped them. The remaining Marshall Colony warships tried to pick off the Impulse on the _Polk_'s hull, but succeeded only in further damaging the carrier. Shinn dodged a web of beam fire as the Daggers desperately tried to protect their commander, and came to a halt in front of the carrier's bridge.

"_I WON'T LET YOU HURT THEM!_" Shinn shrieked.

The Impulse slammed its beam rifle through the _Polk_'s bridge windows and fired—Anderson screamed as he vanished in a green blaze of beam fire. Fire began to rip apart the _Polk_'s bridge tower; the Gaia pumped a volley of beam shots into the ship's hangar, slicing through the thin rear walls and piercing the reactor. The ship cracked in two with a thunderous explosion, and the two Gundams pulled back, daring the Marshall Colony forces to continue attacking.

The Daggers pulled back desperately, and the ships began to retreat.

Shinn scowled after them.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Lagrange Point 3

The bridge of the _Minerva_ was silent. All eyes were glued to the main screen, where the smoke and flame and wreckage from the battle were still fresh. The outcome was obvious—the five remaining Marshall Colony warships and their shattered mobile suit force were clawing for distance, racing away in terror from a cobbled-together pirate battlecruiser, five beleaguered mobile suits...and the two most fearsome military weapons that they could have fielded.

"You must be insane, Shinn," Talia murmured, shaking her head.

At her side, Arthur stared in open-mouthed shock at the Impulse, as it turned and headed back towards the _Kasselheim_. "He...he took out _all those forces_..."

"We had no idea what an opponent we were up against," Talia said dourly, sitting back, putting one hand to her chin in thought. "Now we do." She glanced back at Arthur. "I think it would be prudent not to attack them right now."

"He and the Gaia took them all out," Arthur mumbled disbelievingly. "Is he...is he _human?_"

At her console, Meyrin stared fearfully at the Impulse, watching it return to the _Kasselheim_. Shinn could take on whole armies in a machine like the Impulse and win; he was determined and angry and bound to protect the _Kasselheim_. Now he was terrifying. If he had never been frightening before, when he was with ZAFT, when he was on the _Minerva_...then he was terrifying now.

She looked back down at her console and tried not to cry.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, near Lagrange Point 3

The thing was enormous, heavily armed, even more heavily armored, and impossible to stop.

Sitting back in the _Girty Lue_'s left-hand bridge chair, Ian Lee had to wonder why the Alliance even needed something like the Destroy Gundam.

It had wiped out the city of Kandahar today. It had already wiped out Islamabad and laid waste to several mobile suit divisions of the Muslim League. It seemed as if nothing they had could stop the massive machine from mowing down their forces and leveling their cities. Such a monstrosity, of course, could only come from Lord Djibril. Only Lord Djibril would be callous and melodramatic enough to create a 56-meter mobile suit that could shoot down warships from nearly seven hundred kilometers away, that had twenty mobile suit-grade beam cannons lining its backpack, that had a positron reflector that could easily shrug off the combined kinetic and beam firepower of an entire army.

"Just imagine how much damage it would have done if Stella had been the pilot," Neo snorted dismissively from his seat. Lee glanced at him and returned his gaze to the screen.

"Stella wasn't meant to pilot that _thing_," Lee said. "She would have performed poorly. It is against her nature to pilot something like this."

Neo cast a dark glance at Lee. "Her nature _would_ have been easily overcome," he snapped. He glanced back at the bridge crew. "Status of the pirate ship."

"They're retrieved their mobile suits and set course for Earth, sir," one of the bridge crew answered.

Neo sat back and crossed his arms. "They're heading for Earth," he said, "which means they'll be entering the atmosphere. That would be the best time to attack."

"It would also put us at unnecessary risk," Lee countered. Neo sniffed indifferently.

"At any rate," he went on, "we'll let ZAFT make the first move. With any luck, we'll be able to catch the _Minerva_ with its pants down and finish it off for good, and get _something_ out of this."

Lee looked back at the screen, and the soulless green eyes of the Destroy Gundam glowered back at him.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to the Earth

Shinn almost refused to come out of the Impulse's cockpit as the mobile suit finally locked into place in the _Kasselheim_'s hangar. He could sense the eyes of the mechanics and their incredulity, staring almost fearfully at the unstoppable Gundam that had saved their lives. The mobile suit's Phase Shift faded away, its eyes darkened, its armor pitted and blackened with even more battle scars, and the Impulse Gundam at last came to rest. It seemed to let out a tired sigh as it was locked into place...but its job was done.

Shinn reluctantly opened the hatch, pulled off his helmet, and stepped out into silence.

The other mobile suits were docking; Shinn took off down the gantry, angling for the locker room, hoping that he could get to the lockers and change and slink off to his room before anyone could bother him. He rounded a corner—

Kika was there to greet him, floating silently near the locker room door, staring almost fearfully at him. He looked back at her; she opened her mouth, as if to say something, but no sound came out. Shinn debated for a moment whether he should speak himself, but she finally broke the silence before he could.

"...you came back," she said at last.

Shinn glanced away awkwardly. "Of course I did," he said. "What did you think I would do?"

Kika said nothing; instead, she pushed off the wall and threw her arms around Shinn. He blinked in surprise and tried to sputter out a protest, coming up against the opposite wall, as Kika gripped him tightly.

"Just..._don't do that again,_" she said, squeezing her eyes shut again. Shinn tried to pull her far enough away to look at her; instead, she pulled herself back and looked up at him with teary eyes. "Don't make me think I've lost you."

"K-Kika—" Shinn began awkwardly.

"You could have died," she interrupted.

"I could _always_ die," Shinn countered, trying to get her to relax her grip. "We both know that."

"But this was different!" Kika protested. "You were...you were inside that colony, far away, too far for us to help you...and..." She paused, searching for words. "...and you came back to us," she finished. She looked up at him, the tears gone. "You came back."

Shinn looked away again. "I promised you, didn't I?" he asked uneasily.

Kika finally smiled. "Yes," she said, "you did." Shinn didn't look back at her; she sighed quietly, and touched his face. He looked back at her in surprise; Kika seized her chance and kissed his lips.

Shinn sputtered in shock, his face red, and Kika could only giggle at him. She smiled at him one last time and let him go.

"Now go take a shower," she said, tousling his sweaty hair playfully. "You stink."

She headed back down the corridor, and Shinn watched her go, baffled.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 12th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, orbit of the Earth

The observation deck was silent, its windows filled with a breathtaking panorama of the Earth. Rey Za Burrel stood before it all, arms crossed, staring down coldly at the scene. Far below was a cherry-red streak of light—the _Kasselheim_ was entering the Earth's atmosphere on a thick off-white ballute.

The door opened, but Rey already knew that Aoma was entering the room.

"We're going to enter the atmosphere soon," she said meekly. Rey did not bother to turn around; that would only encourage her.

"I know," he said coldly.

"We should be in the crew lounge," she added.

Rey said nothing. She paused awkwardly; Rey imagined that she was looking around, for a cue of some kind.

Finally, she closed the door behind her and approached him slowly.

"...was Shinn your friend?" she asked suddenly.

Rey kept his emotions outwardly in check, but inside, he felt himself go tense. Shinn had been his friend...or something.

"Shinn was a colleague," he said frigidly, "who was too weak."

Aoma came up next to Rey at the railing. "But...was he your friend?" she asked. She gazed at him nervously; Rey saw her out of the corner of his eye, and cast a dour, token glance at her.

"It is of no importance," he said with finality. "Shinn Asuka is our enemy. We will fight him and destroy him."

Aoma looked awkwardly down at the _Kasselheim_. "Is that what you really think?" she asked.

There was the briefest of pauses. Rey looked down at the ship. Shinn was on that ship.

"Yes," he said.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Carpentaria Base, Australia, Oceania Union

The screen had the dour face of Horatio Vandemant, Chairman of the National Defense Council, emblazoned across his front. He had his hands linked in front of his desk, staring emotionlessly ahead.

"You understand your orders, then?" Horatio asked.

"Of course," the man on the other end answered, slathered in a big easy chair, feet propped up on his desk, toying with a lighter. The scant light from the flame failed to reach his face, illuminating only his ZAFT ground uniform. "The pirate battlecruiser _Kasselheim_ is arriving on Earth. Follow them to the first place they dock and attack them, and capture the traitor Asuka and the stolen Impulse Gundam." He paused. "Easy." Another pause. "I'm on the _Alighieri_, ready to go, so on and so forth. I get it."

"I expect success, then," Horatio said stiffly. "The Red Claw Team will not fail us, I presume."

"Of course we won't," the man answered snidely. "And with that I bid you goodnight, Chairman." He tapped a switch with the toe of his boot, and the screen went dark.

The man remained silent for a moment, staring at the flame on the lighter.

"Shinn Asuka," he said quietly. "Traitor Asuka. Orb Marauder. Impressive nicknames you've racked up for yourself, kid." A pause. "You'll be a fun one, no doubt about that."

He blew the flame out, and the room went dark.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	30. Phase 30: Worlds Apart

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

Note: With apologies to Bruce Springsteen. But dammit, I _knew_ I would figure out how to work a Springsteen song into _Gundam_.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Phase 30 - Worlds Apart

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

****

December 13th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean, Earth

"...this...this is the sea?"

Miki could not believe it. She stood on the deck of the _Kasselheim_, hands loosely on the rails, staring in wonder at her surroundings. It was all water— an endless field of calm and inviting blue, with a gentle breeze washing over everything, waves lapping lazily at the _Kasselheim_'s hull as it cruised just as lazily across the ocean. The sun was rising, casting an elegant glow over everything, and a striking ripple of light across the ocean's surface. It was like a scene out of a painting.

Stella stood next to her, captivated all the same. It was the sea, and she loved the sea.

"It's..._beautiful_," Miki murmured, looking around, finding only the same calm blue water. "There's nothing like this on the PLANTs," she added, slowly looking back at Stella.

"That's 'cuz the PLANTs are scary," Stella answered just as slowly. She giggled as a wave washed up over the _Kasselheim_'s side, sending an errant fish flopping up against the hull and splashing back into the water. "The sea is pretty."

"I'll say," Miki agreed, looking back over the ocean. "This is amazing..."

Stella paused, her smile vanishing. Miki followed her line of sight and saw, in the distance, a shape rising up out of the horizon.

"What's that?" she asked, looking over at Stella.

"...ship...?" Stella wondered.

Miki looked back at the object. It was on the horizon, rising up, growing larger and larger, but it was too large to be a ship.

"It's a city," Chris's voice said suddenly. Miki and Stella turned in surprise, finding the severe young man striding towards them, his ZAFT ground uniform shirt thrown over his shoulder.

"A city?" Miki echoed. "On the sea?"

"Aquapolis," Chris answered, coming up to the rail and staring stoically out at the distant object. "A city governed by the Atlantic Federation. It floats on the water. We're going to dock there."

Stella looked back nervously at the city, at Aquapolis. "...city..." she murmured.

"Will they let us?" Miki asked. Chris nodded.

"As long as we pay the docking fees and don't cause trouble, they don't care what we do," he answered.

"Cities are bad," Stella said suddenly. Miki and Chris glanced in surprise at her. "...because scary things are in them," she added.

"Well, you don't have to worry about it," Chris said tonelessly, looking back at Aquapolis. "You're not going into the city. Shinn is."

"Shinn is?" Miki echoed.

"With Kika," Chris added.

"With Kika?" Miki exclaimed.

Stella looked out at Aquapolis and said nothing.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Aquapolis, Pacific Ocean

Shinn Asuka decided that Aquapolis was nothing more than a free-floating version of Orb as the _Kasselheim_ docked. Everything, even in the port, had the same ritzy, gaudy, holier-than-thou, "come look at how rich we are" look and atmosphere as Orb and Copernicus.

The _Kasselheim_ rattled as it slid into port. From his place on the observation deck, Shinn crossed his arms and glanced uneasily over everything. He paused at the feeling of a familiar presence approaching; before the door opened, he knew it was Kika.

"Guess who gets to go out with me!" Kika said brightly as the door opened. Shinn turned around awkwardly, memories of her parting kiss still about as fresh on his mind as it felt on his lips. He already felt a measure of unease at how enthusiastic Kika seemed to be.

"We're going into the city?" he asked dumbly, hoping that she would not pick on him for it.

"Of course we are, you dope!" she laughed, closing the distance between them and seizing his hand. "Come on, we've got work to do." She paused, and Shinn could have sworn something _different_ flashed into her eyes. "Business before pleasure, after all."

Shinn never managed to sputter a protest before she had hauled him out the door and into the hallway.

They arrived on the bridge just as the port officials left, with suspicious glances all around, and Kika immediately thrust herself into Mev's view as he turned to look out the bridge windows.

"Captain! We're ready to go," she said cheerily. Mev was unmoved.

"You remember your assignment, of course?" he asked rhetorically.

"Track down a mercenary unit called..." She paused and fished a piece of paper out of a pocket in her skirt. "'Serpent Tail,'" she read haltingly. "Ask 'em about the Marshall Colony job, get some coordinates and a meeting point, and come back."

"Good," Mev said. "Be back by sundown tomorrow. We leave port at dawn on the 15th." He paused. "And he's going with you?"

Kika seized Shinn by the arm, dragging him closer. "He's the bodyguard," she explained. She cast a playful smirk at him. "If _anyone_'s gonna be guarding my body, it's gonna be Shinn."

"_What?_" Shinn yelped, blushing.

"See ya tomorrow, captain!" Kika exclaimed, grinning and yanking Shinn off the bridge before he could protest further.

Mev shook his head and returned his gaze to the viewports.

"Are you sure they're the wisest pair to be going out like this?" Viima asked dubiously from the side of the bridge, arms crossed.

"No," Mev said, "but they'll get the job done."

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

****

ZAFT _Vosgulov_-class submarine _Alighieri_, near Aquapolis, Pacific Ocean

"Big motherfucker, isn't it?"

Commander Samson Fleming was an easily amused man, it seemed to Captain Carlson of the _Alighieri_. The commander of the Red Claw Team was a thin, gaunt man who could have probably passed as a rock star somewhere, with long, messy black hair nearly obscuring his narrow, aquiline face, and his ZAFT ground uniform shirt opened to expose a bare chest underneath that was in dire need of muscular development— although evidently no one had seen fit to tell him this. He crossed his arms and gazed interestedly at the screens.

"I'm not sure I'd call a wonder of Earth-side engineering a 'motherfucker,' commander," Carlson said awkwardly.

"Whatever," Samson said with an indifferent shrug. He glanced over at the mobile suit deck operator. "You there, Grunty, you got our MS ready?"

The indicated soldier looked none too happy at being called "Grunty," but duly acquiesced to Samson's inquiry. "Five BABIs are loaded into the vertical launch tubes, followed by your GOUF Ignited. We also have ten Noctiluca ZAKU Warriors and five ASHes prepared for launch in the horizontal launch tubes."

"Kickass," Samson said with a big sadistic grin. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's almost showtime." He glanced at Carlson. "Get us as close as you can to the city without letting them spot us. We'll launch and take up positions during the night, and get ready to kick some ass."

Carlson sighed. He would probably get killed doing it. "Yes sir," he answered with a dutiful salute.

"This'll be fun, boys," Samson said with mock reassurance. "Time to see if the traitor Asuka's really so tough."

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

****

Aquapolis, Pacific Ocean

The Impulse, Shinn hoped, would be safe in the hangar he had left it in. The Aquapolis port lay some distance from the city itself, and the port authority had not really cared when he stomped into the hangar and parked the imposing, battle-scarred Gundam there, as long as he paid the considerable docking fee. And it had been a very considerable fee— already Shinn bitterly regretted how light his wallet felt.

And now they were in the city. Shinn hated it.

"Don't look too depressed, Shinn," Kika said cheerfully as she nearly dragged Shinn through the streets of Aquapolis. She cast another smirk at him. "It'll be worth your while."

Shinn looked away nervously. He had a faint feeling he knew what Kika was _really_ after by dragging him out into the city with her, but he was not entirely sure what it was. He was, however, definitely sure that he did not like it.

"What's with you, Shinn?" Kika said, stopping and standing in front of him, annoyed. Shinn blinked as he suddenly found himself stopped. "Christ, you're not making this any easier."

"Making what easier?" Shinn asked blankly. Kika groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"You're hopeless, Shinn," she sighed. "Come on." She seized him by the hand, pulling him aside, towards a bizarre-looking ergonomic bench along the side of the sidewalk. "Looking for these 'Serpent Tail' guys, remember?" She dug around in her purse for a moment and produced a photograph. "Primarily for a guy who looks like this."

Shinn peered at the photo. "'Gai Murakumo,'" he read tonelessly. The dour face of Gai Murakumo stared impassively at him through orange sunglasses. The photo was from the shoulders up, but Shinn could tell that he was wearing what looked like a modified Earth Alliance uniform. He probably would not be so conspicuous on the streets, but at least he had a face to search for now.

"Just keep an eye out for him," Kika said, squirreling the photo back in her purse. "And other than that..." She flashed a grin. "I don't think it would hurt for us to have some fun."

"And by 'fun,' you mean...?" Shinn began helplessly. Kika's grin got a little wider.

"You'll see," she said excitedly, dragging him back down the sidewalk.

"If this has anything to do with shopping, I'll never forgive you," Shinn grunted as he freed his arm from Kika's death-grip resignedly.

"Shopping?" Kika laughed. "Do I look like a pretentious white girl to you?"

Shinn decided not to say anything.

"Besides," she went on, "I don't know what I'd do with a 400 purse anyways." She glanced back at him with a smile. "Surely _you_ like to have fun, right?"

Shinn looked away awkwardly, trying to think back to the last time he had actually had fun doing something.

"My God, Shinn," Kika sighed, grabbing his arm again. "No wonder Miki calls you the Emo Marauder." She pulled him towards a corner and shoved him down the sidewalk. "Well, we still have to look for a broody mercenary guy, but that doesn't mean you have to keep the stick up your ass. Come on."

"I'm just here to do my job," Shinn protested, trying to free his arm. Kika glanced back at him disdainfully.

"That's the problem," Kika shot back. "Learn to have some fun once in a while and maybe you won't be so depressed. Now come on. We still have to find Gai Murakumo, so we might as well have fun doing it."

Shinn sighed and resigned himself to fate as Kika dragged him down the sidewalk.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

****

Aquapolis, Pacific Ocean

"So why do you look so pissed?"

They were on a fast linear monorail, inside a clean, white, sterile-smelling car, surrounded by snobby-looking people who were probably all rich. The setting sun was casting an eerie orange glow over everything.

Shinn looked around contemptuously at his surroundings. It would have been easy to explain. He glanced back at Kika, and sighed quietly.

"It's just like Orb," he said. "Hell, it might as well be Orb."

"What's your beef with Orb anyways?" Kika asked wearily. "It's not _that_ bad."

"It's a giant false sense of security," Shinn growled. "Everything there is false. Everything there is shiny, gaudy, all in the name of being 'modern.'"

"Well aren't you a critic," she sighed. She looked around duly. "Though I suppose you've got a point. It all _does_ seem kinda fake."

The train came to a halt, and the two pirates disembarked amongst the flow of bodies. Shinn looked around warily. Whoever this Gai Murakumo guy was, he was making himself difficult to find.

"Where would he be?" Kika murmured. "They never gave us much more than 'inside Aquapolis,' so— "

"There!" Shinn said quickly, pointing as discreetly as he could towards a man in a blue denim jacket and black pants. He glanced over his shoulder at something, and Shinn saw a brief flash of a pair of orange sunglasses.

"That's him," Kika exclaimed. They melted into the crowd to follow him.

The man rounded a corner; Shinn and Kika held back for a moment before following.

"Where's he going?" Kika wondered quietly. Shinn shook his head. The sooner they made contact, the sooner he could go back—

His senses flared up, and he looked sharply to his right, just in time for a brawny man who reeked of whiskey to seize them by the arms from a dark alley and drag them into the darkness. The next thing Shinn knew, he and Kika were in the middle of a secluded, dark alley, and Shinn felt five distinct pulses of human lives around him.

A man emerged from the shadows, and Shinn found himself face to face with Gai Murakumo.

"You took long enough," he said coldly. "I presume you are from the Mad Typhoon Gang?"

"What the hell's with throwing us in an alley?" Kika demanded, getting back to her feet. Gai glanced back at the brawny man who had dragged them here, and he smiled back sheepishly and took a considerable slug of whiskey.

"Your employer has instructed me not to reveal their identity just yet," Gai said, producing an envelope from his jacket. "The coordinates at which your employer would like to make contact with you are enclosed, as is information as to your accommodations for the night."

"Our what?" Shinn exclaimed.

"Aquapolis has a curfew," Gai explained. "You won't get back to your ship in time, so you'll have to find a place to stay. Your employer has taken care of that."

"Wha— how did they— " Shinn sputtered.

"You will understand when you meet them," Gai said carefully. "They are...singular individuals."

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

****

ZAFT _Vosgulov_-class submarine _Alighieri_, near Aquapolis

"What the hell do you mean you won't support us?!" Samson roared, glowering furiously at the unimpressed face of Talia Gladys on the _Alighieri_'s main screen. "Who the fuck do you think you are?! We requested support, we're on the same mission you are, you're fucking obligated— "

"Commander Samson," Talia said wearily, "please take note of the shiny thing on my uniform before you say anything more."

Samson looked down at the FAITH insignia and blanched.

"You, commander, cannot tell me what to do, because you are not the Supreme Chairman," Talia went on. "Nor am I obligated to do _anything_ like a normal ZAFT officer. If I say I'm not going to support you, it means I'm not going to support you. Get over it."

"But— " Samson began helplessly.

"Besides," Talia interrupted, "even if I weren't a member of FAITH, my mobile suits are currently being repaired and the ship is in need of resupply. We would not be able to support you anyways."

"Goddammit!" Samson roared. "We're after the traitor, Gladys!"

"So am I," Talia answered coolly.

"_Then why won't you fucking help us?!_" Samson shrieked.

"Did I not just explain that to you, commander?" Talia shot back. "Calm down and think the matter through, or else 'the traitor' will be your undoing."

The screen went dark; Samson howled a curse and slammed a fist into the console in front of him.

"That fucking bitch!" he snarled. "Who the fuck does she think she is anyway?!" He wheeled around furiously to face Captain Carlson. "Move us in! We'll begin the operation at once!"

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

****

Aquapolis, Pacific Ocean

The Neo Riviera was the top of the line in the hotel industry. The hotel's nightly rate ran into the thousands, and as he entered his room, Shinn Asuka had to admit he could see why; it was certainly a good thing that their client had picked up the tab.

The room, small and modest by request, was still far heavier on the décor than he would have liked. If he did not know better— and he was not sure he did— he would have thought he had been stuck in the honeymoon suite. His room was walled in rich, dark redwood, furnished with a positively gargantuan bed covered with an elegant, distinctly _romantic_ drapery around it, easily obscuring whoever slept in it or whatever they did in it. It all had an unbearably intimate atmosphere that brought a faint blush to Shinn's face.

"Cozy, isn't it?" Kika observed. "Shit, this place is swanky." Shinn spun around in surprise, and Kika smiled at him. "What, never seen the abode of the rich snobby upper class before?"

Shinn looked away uneasily. "No."

Kika smiled again and locked the door. Shinn looked back at her in alarm, and she cast a reassuring smile at him.

"Not going anywhere else tonight, are you?" she asked rhetorically. Shinn stared suspiciously at her, as she slowly approached. "Calm down, Shinn. There's nothing more we can do tonight. These days Aquapolis is imposing a curfew. At least we found Serpent Tail and got the coordinates. The Aquapolis police can be a real bitch sometimes, but we can go back tomorrow." She brushed past Shinn, and he almost shivered as her hand brushed his. "All that's left to do now," she paused, glancing at Shinn, and in her eyes Shinn could swear there was something _sultry_ there, "...is rest."

Shinn watched her carefully as she set her duffel down near the bed. Every action, every motion, every word had some kind of second meaning, meant for him and him alone. And with a sinking feeling, he realized what that meaning was. Kika glanced at him again with _that_ look in her eyes, and Shinn began to feel very uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, Shinn?" she asked, turning to approach. Shinn took a step back, and Kika stopped, blinking. "Shinn...?"

Shinn fumbled for an explanation. "It's nothing," he mumbled at last. Kika looked unconvinced.  
"Is this about Stella?" she asked, approaching again. Shinn's eyes widened as Kika moved towards him slowly, even seductively.

_She wouldn't..._

"Stella will be fine," she assured him, her voice growing low and inviting. "Miki will take care of her." She pulled closer to Shinn and took him by the shoulders. "Besides," she went on, "you need to rest." She slowly maneuvered him towards the bed.

Shinn pulled himself out of her grip. "Kika," he began, quickly and uneasily, but she cut him off, closing the distance between them.

"Shinn, don't kid yourself," she said soothingly. "You want this."

"No!" he protested. "Kika— !"

"Stella can't give you everything you want," Kika interrupted. "You know that."

"I don't want that from Stella!" Shinn exclaimed. Kika put a finger to his lips, silencing him.

"But you want it anyways," she pointed out. "Maybe not from Stella, but you want it from _someone_." She grinned seductively, almost animally, at him. "It's okay," she said soothingly. "It's not cheating on her or anything. Stella doesn't have to know. And even if she did, she wouldn't understand."

Shinn tried to take a step back and found himself against the bed.

"Stella can't be angry with you like another girl would be," she continued. "She can get frightened and she can fight, but she wouldn't be angry. Not at you. She wouldn't even know what it means. All that matters to her is that you'll protect her."

"I can't do that, Kika!" Shinn protested, trying to back up. He toppled over backwards, and Kika straddled his waist, grinning.

"Yes you can," she answered, "I know you want this, and Stella can't give it to you." Shinn felt his mouth go dry. It wouldn't hurt, he heard himself try to argue. Stella wouldn't know, and even if she did, she wouldn't care, because he would still protect her. "Imagine how good it will feel," Kika murmured, her hands working lower. "You won't regret a thing, Shinn. I'll be yours; I'll do whatever you ask. Just let me."

It wouldn't be a problem. Just this once, right? And it _would _be good, right? Kika was gorgeous; how could it not?

Kika removed Shinn's shirt with a flick of her wrist. "Shinn, at least do it for me," she said, this time pleadingly. "I've waited for you to come around, and now I can't wait any longer." She ran a finger seductively down Shinn's chest and smiled at him. "You're strong enough not to let the world keep screwing you over. You protect people better than anyone could ask for; you believe in what you do. You're strong enough for me to not have to worry about you, even though I do; you care enough about me to put your own life on the line for my sake." Her finger found its way to his chin, and she held his chin up, bending in closer for a kiss. "Come on, aren't I good enough for you? Wouldn't you want me too? I'll do anything you want, Shinn." Her lips pressed against his.

Shinn gasped against her touch. Her free hand took his as she moaned against him, stretching her body out on top of his.

"Shinn," she murmured at him, running her hands seductively over his thin, rigid body.

Shinn looked back at her, and at last put his hand against the back of her head.

"Don't stop," he whispered.

Kika smiled at him.

"I won't," she whispered back.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

They were all positioned in such a way as to hide until morning. It was obviously an ambush. Gai Murakumo crossed his arms, standing inside his nondescript motel room, staring intently at the maps of the city spread out on the table.

"They're all over the place," Elijah murmured, an edge of apprehension in his voice. "What are we going to do?"

"We could get away if we leave now— " Loretta began from an overstuffed chair nearby.

"We will not leave," Gai interrupted. Loretta and Elijah blinked in surprise and looked over at him. "Our client has made it clear that we are to ensure Shinn Asuka and the Mad Typhoon Gang make it to their rendezvous."

Elijah glanced over the map worriedly. "Gai, they've got a _Vosgulov_ off the city," he said. "Are you sure we can— "

"There is no question over whether or not we _can_," Gai cut him off sharply. "We simply _will_."

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

The cockpit of the GOUF Ignited was dark as the mobile suit took up its position inside the city's keel. Inside, Samson Fleming scowled and clutched the controls furiously.

"I'll prove that bitch wrong," he snarled. "I'll prove her wrong alright." He activated the GOUF's communication lines. "Red Claw Team, we're attacking at 1000 tomorrow morning."

"What?" Captain Carlson cut in. "By then he'll— "

"He'll be awake," Samson finished. "He'll be up and he'll be able to fight." He scowled. "And then I'll take his head back to the Chairman myself. Now shut up and wait until 1000 to attack."

"Commander— " Carlson began. Samson cut the light in irritation and sat back, crossing his arms.

_Blow me off, will you, bitch...?_

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

****

December 14th, CE 73 - Aquapolis, Pacific Ocean

The first thing Shinn realized as he slowly rose from the haze of sleep in the morning was the feeling of a material that was definitely not that of his covers on his familiar bed on the _Kasselheim_. But a hazy memory of staying the night in a hotel trickled back into his consciousness, explaining this issue.

The next issue was the fact that he was not wearing anything, and that there was something touching his chest, and it felt conspicuously like a human hand.

The memories of the night before made their return, and Shinn squeezed his eyes shut tighter. He could not look at Kika now, not after what they had done last night, not after all those strange new sensations.

"Shinn," he heard Kika's voice say. "Get up, you dope."

Shinn resignedly cracked an eye open. Kika was not there; he glanced to his right and found her lying next to him, her arm protectively over his chest, her head affectionately leaning against his shoulder.

Before he had a chance to speak, she kissed him. "Are you _still_ tired?" she asked with a grin. "Was I _that_ good?"

Shinn sat up slowly. He felt drained and unenergetic, but that was nothing compared to the feeling of disconnectedness he felt rising through him from the pit of his stomach. He could not even look at Kika now, distracted by the jumble of emotions and thoughts mixed up inside him. Had they really—

"Why?" he asked quietly. He forced himself to look at Kika, but that only made it worse; she was sitting up next to him, regarding him with wide, surprised eyes, the covers drawn over her bare shoulders. Shinn tried not to think of the rest.

"Why?" she repeated. She paused for a moment, before she put on a smile and shook her head. "Of all the questions you could've asked me," she sighed. "But you want to know why."

Shinn said nothing, looking insistently at her. Before he could try to put his thoughts and feelings in order, he had to know why Kika had done this.

"It wouldn't help anyone to lie to you," she said, taking his hand, "so I'll give you the truth. I seduced you."

"I know," Shinn said ashamedly. "And I— "

"You were _supposed_ to give in, Shinn," Kika cut him off. "That was the point of us getting in here and doing it in the first place." She pulled him closer, wrapping him in her arms, pulling him close; Shinn's eyes went wide as he felt the same electric sensation of their bare skin against each other. "You might be some big famous mobile suit ace, you might be a world-famous person, you might be some kind of Coordinator Newtype whatever super-soldier, but Shinn, you're only sixteen and you can't do everything." She stroked his hair gently. "You can't ignore the stuff every other sixteen-year-old boy goes through."

"That's all?" Shinn asked incredulously. "Just to make me normal or something?"

Kika's smile faded. "Well," she began awkwardly. Shinn looked at her again, ignoring the tornado of emotion he felt in doing so. "No," she answered at last, "it wasn't."

"Then why?" Shinn pressed on. Kika hugged him tighter and said nothing.

Shinn glanced fearfully at her. She was worried; Shinn could sense that from her clearly. Everything else, though, was a morass of emotions that he had no hope of untangling. As she tightened her embrace, Shinn thought back to what she had said when he returned from the Marshall Colony. She had feared that he had died; that she had lost him.

"I told you that I was afraid I'd lose you," Kika said quietly. "And I still am." She rubbed his back affectionately, holding him closer. "Last time you went out and did something crazy, you came back. But I don't know if you'll come back the next time you do something crazy." She pulled him away far enough to look into his eyes; Shinn blinked in surprise as he saw tears in hers. "And if that's the case, then I don't want to have any regrets."

"Y-You mean— " Shinn began uneasily.

"Love, lust, infatuation, I don't care what you call it," Kika interrupted. "I needed to spend a night like this with you, Shinn, so that I would have some moment to look back on where I could pretend we really were lovers and not just a couple of horny awkward kids." She touched his cheek, gently running her fingers over Stella's three scars. "And I wanted to show you the side of a relationship that you'll never get from Stella."

Shinn stared back at her, emotions running wild. Nothing made sense; he could not organize a single scrap of thought or emotion into anything he could understand. She loved him? She wanted to show him something? She wanted a set of happy memories?

"Just don't get all depressed and withdrawn," Kika said. "I'm your friend, Shinn, no matter what we did last night. I don't want you to be afraid of me because of that." She kissed his unscarred cheek and let go of him. "We should get going," she added. "I guess we've had enough fun for one stay."

As she dressed, Shinn held his head in his hands and tried not to think.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Two hours later, Shinn sat awkwardly in the Impulse's cockpit, watching as Kika positioned herself behind the cockpit seat, for the trip back to the _Kasselheim_. He closed the hatch and eased the Impulse out of its bay and across the hangar. Kika watched him carefully, but said nothing, and for that, Shinn was grateful— he was not ready to talk just yet.

The hangar doors opened, and the Impulse stepped out into the morning light. Shinn glanced across the harbor, at the _Kasselheim_, silent in its berth. He eased the Impulse towards the edge of the landing pad— his senses flared up, and he whipped around to the right, throwing his shield up to defend, just in time for a bazooka shell to slam into the shield and force the Impulse back. Kika gasped in surprise as Shinn ground his teeth, bracing the Impulse against another hit. The smoke parted with a burst of steam—

A GOUF Ignited touting a Cattus recoilless rifle stood before him, smoke curling off the barrel of its weapon.

"What's this?!" Kika exclaimed.

"That's ZAFT," Shinn grunted. "How the hell did they get here?"

Inside the GOUF, a twisted smile worked its way onto the face of Samson Fleming.

"Red Claw Team!" he shouted. "Tear this fucking city apart for harboring a ZAFT criminal!" He licked his lips. "The traitor's mine!"

The GOUF Ignited charged.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Up ahead, Gai Murakumo could see through the scopes of the Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second L a formation of ten ZAKU Warriors, all armed with Noctiluca Wizard packs, speeding towards the city of Aquapolis from their surfaced mothership.

The Tactical Arms was deployed in its Gatling mode, pointed as surreptitiously as possible between a pair of buildings, with the Blue Frame lying in wait behind it. The Noctiluca ZAKUs were all armed with bazookas, and had beam rifles clipped to their backs. They were clearly loaded out to cause as much damage to the city as possible.

"Gai," Elijah said nervously; Gai glanced across the street and found Elijah's gray ZAKU glancing back at him with its monoeye. "I counted five BABIs in the air above the city."

Gai looked back at his instruments. "Heat sensor picked up five ASHes," he said grimly. "And the GOUF's already attacked the Impulse."

"What should we do?" Elijah asked.

Gai narrowed his eyes. The Noctiluca ZAKUs moved into range; Gai opened up with a vicious burst from the Tactical Arms Gatling, mowing down one of the ZAKUs instantly. The remaining nine split up, and Gai immediately ceased fire before they could trace his shots.

"Elijah, hold off the BABIs," he said quickly. "I'll worry about these ZAKUs, and Shinn will have to deal with the others."

Before Elijah could say anything, the Blue Frame snapped the Tactical Arms back onto its back, drew its beam rifle, and took off.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

"Now this is a fight!" Samson screamed.

The GOUF dove out from behind the cover of a skyscraper, firing its bazooka; behind the dubious protection of a monorail track, Shinn growled a curse and took cover behind his shield, as the shell wiped the track out. He dove back behind the smoke and hid behind another building, but the GOUF appeared in the air above him, firing another shell down at him.

"Dammit!" Shinn snarled, boosting backwards along the street as the GOUF landed with a crash. "He's going to wreck the whole city!"

"Well, kill him before he does!" Kika shouted back. The Impulse darted away from another bazooka shell.

"I'm trying!" Shinn snapped. He popped out from behind a low-lying building and squeezed off a single beam rifle shot; the GOUF smacked it aside with its shield and fired yet another bazooka shell.

"You can't run forever!" Samson cackled. "I'll tear down the whole fucking city if I have to!" He fired another shell at the building closest to the dodging Impulse; Shinn dove away behind his shield.

"That's six," Shinn growled as the Impulse landed. "You're out of shells!" The GOUF reared back and hurled its bazooka at the Impulse; Shinn scowled. "Don't make me laugh!" he shouted; the Impulse leapt up, kicking the bazooka at the muzzle and sending it spiraling back onto the GOUF. Samson's eyes widened in disbelief, and he batted the bazooka aside with his shield.

"You little bastard!" Samson screamed. "Don't get too cocky!"

The GOUF drew its beam sword with a flash and stormed forward; Shinn switched to his saber and swung back, deflecting the blow. The GOUF charged again, swinging horizontally; Shinn pulled back, avoiding the GOUF's wild swipes.

"Shinn! He's going to— " Kika began.

"I know, dammit!" Shinn snapped. "He'll make a mistake— "

Shinn's senses flashed to life; he looked in disbelief over his shoulder, just in time for the Impulse to shudder violently. An ASH had managed to sneak up behind him and had seized both his arms with its claws, holding them apart, holding the Impulse up for the GOUF to score the final blow. Samson cackled triumphantly and charged, sword extended for a killing stab.

"_Shinn!_" Kika screamed.

Shinn saw the seed; his eyes flashed. He slammed down on the rear thrusters, throwing the ASH back, and leapt in the air. Samson's eyes widened in disbelief, but it was too late; the Impulse sent the GOUF reeling with a devastating roundhouse kick to the face.

The ASH came charging back in from behind; Shinn swung around with a scream and lopped off the ASH's right arm with his beam saber. The ASH shuddered violently and tried to hit the Impulse in the side with its left arm; Shinn sliced off the left arm at the elbow and plunged his saber into the ASH's torso.

As the ASH exploded, Shinn swung around again to deflect the GOUF's beam sword stroke.

"You bastard!" Samson shrieked. "A lucky shot, that's all! I'll tear your fucking heart out!"

"You can sure as hell try!" Shinn screamed back.

The GOUF leapt away, showering the Impulse with beam gun blasts. Shinn vaulted into the air, engaging the booster, and charged after the GOUF.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

There were four Noctiluca ZAKUs left, and they had all spent their bazookas trying in vain to shoot down the maneuverable and swift Blue Frame Second L. Gai scowled at the charging mobile suits as they darted over the water, firing back at him desperately with their beam rifles. He dodged their shots effortlessly and drew a beam saber off the Blue Frame's retracted backpack. A charging Noctiluca ZAKU came darting towards him, heat tomahawk drawn. It raised the weapon for a killing blow; Gai narrowed his eyes and darted forward. Before the ZAKU could bring its tomahawk down, Gai sawed it in half through the waist, and even as it exploded, he picked off another ZAKU with a wave of Gatling fire as it tried to sneak up behind him. The remaining two ZAKUs began to pull back; Gai rocketed up into the air, putting the sun to his back. The ZAKUs followed him, but the sun blinded their pilots and silenced their guns; Gai drew the Tactical Arms, put it into Sword mode, and dropped down between the two ZAKUs, firing the thrusters to halt his descent. As the ZAKUs finally managed to see him, Gai spun in a graceful 360 degrees to slash them both in half.

Wordlessly, Gai returned the Tactical Arms to the Blue Frame's backpack and looked up into the air. Elijah's ZAKU was desperately trying to fend off five marauding BABIs.

"Gai!" Elijah screamed. "Gai! _Help me!_"

Gai ground his teeth and engaged the booster, drawing the Blue Frame's beam rifle.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

"Shinn! Over there— " Kika began anxiously.

"He's not going anywhere!" Shinn screamed.

The ASH came streaking in with a wave of beam cannon fire; Shinn screamed and charged through it, deflecting the blasts with its shield and saber, until the ASH desperately threw up its left arm, igniting the beam claw to ward off Shinn's impending saber attack.

"No you don't!" Samson screamed, diving in with a violent lash from his heat rod. Shinn glowered up at him and slashed the heat rod in two; Samson's eyes widened in disbelief. He charged, beam sword upraised, but Shinn forced him back with a lightning kick to the face. The ASH came streaking in from behind again.

"Shinn!" Kika exclaimed.

"_I won't let you!_" Shinn roared, whipping around and slicing the ASH in two at the waist.

As the ASH exploded, Samson glowered ferociously at the Impulse.

"What kind of monster _ARE YOU?!_" he demanded, charging again. Shinn raged back towards him, and the two mobile suits met with a crash. "Who the hell _ARE YOU?!_ _WHAT ARE YOU?!_"

A stream of missiles slammed into the ground around the Impulse; Shinn's senses flashed to life as the GOUF pulled back, and with a roar of engines, the Impulse lunged into the air, turned around, and slashed up into the body of a transformed BABI as it streaked by.

The GOUF followed with a stream of beam gun blasts; the Impulse took off with a roar. The GOUF lashed out with its remaining heat rod; Shinn cut it in half and dove back towards the city, avoiding the GOUF's furious beam gun blasts.

"Get back here!" Samson screamed. "I'm not done with you yet!"

The GOUF followed; the last two ASHes came streaking on from both sides, as the GOUF charged in from above. Shinn tensed, waiting for the one behind him to come close enough to attack—

A beam rifle shot from above picked it off, and Shinn's eyes widened as a blue and white mobile suit slammed down in front of him and shot down the remaining ASH.

"That's— " Kika began. Shinn stared in shock at the insignia on the mobile suit's shoulder.

"Serpent Tail!" he finished incredulously. The dour face of Gai Murakumo appeared on the Impulse's screen, as the GOUF landed across the street.

"I will leave the GOUF to you, Shinn," Gai intoned calmly. "Elijah and I will handle the BABIs." Shinn looked up and found a gray ZAKU mobile suit with a red and white backpack struggling to hold its own against four angry BABIs. Shinn nodded wordlessly; the Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second L leapt into the air and took off towards the BABIs. Shinn narrowed his eyes at Samson's GOUF.

"You're not getting past me, you little shit," Samson snarled. "You're not going _anywhere_."

The GOUF's monoeye flashed; it raised its sword and charged. Shinn curled his fists around the Impulse's controls tightly. Up above, one of the BABIs exploded.

"I won't let you," he growled, as the GOUF approached. "_I won't let you..._" Kika's presence weighed on his mind; the GOUF came closer, and Shinn's eyes flashed. "_I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER!_"

The Impulse swung back with enough force to stop the GOUF's finishing sword blow, and sent it staggering back with another stroke that the GOUF barely parried. In the sky, another BABI went down in flames.

"You're not so scary!" Samson shrieked, his bloodshot eyes bulging. "I can beat you! Just you watch!"

The GOUF rained beam gun shots on the Impulse; Shinn screamed and charged right through them to slam its saber against the GOUF's sword. Up above, Shinn saw the Blue Frame and ZAKU combine to open fire on two BABIs. One of them exploded in midair; the other, trailing smoke and flames, pitched down towards the city and came streaking in with an ugly trail of smoke. Shinn's eyes flashed as a plan formed in his mind.

With a scream, Shinn kicked the GOUF's sword arm skyward, and in midair, slammed the GOUF in the chest with another kick. The GOUF staggered backwards; the dying BABI slammed into its back, sending it reeling forward again; Shinn charged, screaming, and impaled the GOUF on his beam saber.

Both mobile suits exploded, and Samson died with a wordless scream of terror.

Shinn deactivated his beam saber and looked up with dull, feral eyes. The Blue Frame and ZAKU glanced down coldly at him and took off with a roar.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

To be continued...


	31. Phase 31: A Kindred Spirit

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 31 - A Kindred Spirit

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 14th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Aquapolis, Pacific Ocean

The ride back to the _Kasselheim_ was silent. Shinn could have done it in his sleep, but knowing that Kika was right behind him made him focus even more intently and awkwardly on what he was doing. The last thing he wanted was to actually have to talk to her. He could not bring himself to do that now, not with the knowledge that twelve hours ago they had…

He couldn't bring himself to think of that, either. It felt wrong, like he had trespassed on something, like he had lied, like he had broken a promise. And he could not simply push it out of his conscience either— it was there, omnipresent, enveloping him, becoming a cruel and twisted part of him. It had been an experience beyond his imagination…and yet it was bringing him more pain than anything else.

"What are they doing?" Kika asked. Shinn looked up, and blinked in surprise, magnifying the image.

The _Kasselheim_ was moving. It had broken out of its dock by force, ripping off tubes and hoses and pipes, and smashing through delicate docking machinery. Shinn blinked in disbelief as the _Kasselheim_ freed itself with a jarring screech, and lurched forward violently into the water.

"They must've had to leave in a hurry," Kika said, nodding. "Guess our little tiff with ZAFT got some people pissed off."

There were some tiny flares of gunfire in the berth the _Kasselheim_ had just ripped itself out of; Shinn felt his muscles twitch, instinct telling him to turn his beam rifle on the shooters. Instead he willed the feeling away and leapt into the air, following the _Kasselheim_ from above.

Shinn glanced over his shoulder at Kika; she looked back at him quizzically. He turned resolutely back towards the main screen.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

The wreckage of a Noctiluca ZAKU Warrior drifted by serenely as the _Minerva_ sailed past Aquapolis. They were understandably wary of anything with the ZAFT insignia on it; after all, twenty one ZAFT mobile suits had just torn through the city in search of the Impulse Gundam.

On the bridge, Talia heaved a sigh as the _Minerva_ glided past the wreck and draped one leg over the other, sitting back.

"Captain," Meyrin began uneasily, looking over her shoulder at Talia, "the Aquapolis news is showing reports of a ship that forced its way out of port."

"Put it on the main screen," Talia ordered. The main screen promptly showed a bold image of a ship ripping its way out of its dock.

"Captain!" Arthur exclaimed. "That's— "

"They've been busy," Talia observed, crossing her arms. "Plot a new course due west. We'll find them."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Pacific Ocean

On one side of the desk, Sting Oakley sat rigidly, his face unreadable. Auel Neider sat awkwardly next to him, trying to look as determined as Sting.

Seated behind his desk, Ian Lee stared in surprise at the two boys.

"You want me," he said, pausing, still unable to believe what he was saying, "you want me to break you of your block words."

Sting nodded wordlessly.

Lee sat back, crossing his arms. He could see in the eyes of the two Extended that they were determined to endure the suffering and pain; that they were determined to break the chains that Neo and the Alliance had fastened so tightly around them. There would be talking them out of it— and seeing how violent they could get when in a disagreeable mood, Lee doubted that trying to dissuade them was in his best interests anyway.

"You're putting me in a dangerous position," Lee said carefully. "If Neo or High Command finds out that I've been counteracting your conditioning, I'll probably be court-martialed."

Auel glanced awkwardly at Sting.

"We can't ask anyone else," Auel said uneasily.

"So," Sting added, looking Lee in the eye, "we're going to trust you."

Lee watched Sting carefully. The Extended boy meant every word of it; at last Lee nodded soberly.

"It will be difficult," he said, "and I have little idea where to start."

"We're willing to do it," Auel said quickly. Sting glanced guardedly at him, and Auel sat back again.

"If you use the block word too much," Sting said, looking back at Lee, "then we'll get used to it and that will weaken its effects."

"You're going to have to endure all the effects of your block words," Lee pointed out.

"We can't do anything to Neo if he can just say one word and stop us!" Auel blurted out angrily. Lee cast a surprised eye on him.

"What do you mean?" he asked dourly. Auel blinked in surprise. "Mutiny against a superior is punishable by death. I doubt even valuable Extended like you two would be exempt from that."

Sting was silent for a moment as Auel looked crestfallen. "Captain," he began quietly, "you said you were going to be a father figure to us, didn't you?"

Lee nodded, eyeing him carefully. "I did."

Sting looked up at him; Lee blinked in surprise at the determination in his eyes. "Would you let your children be the way we are?" he asked. "Would you let some asshole with a bucket on his head control them the way Neo controls us? Wouldn't you try to stop him? Wouldn't you try to help them?"

Lee stared at him in surprise. His inner skeptic raised its voice; there was no way the technicians would allow the Extended to simply shut down their block words. There was no way Neo wouldn't notice.

He looked back at Sting. The fire in his eyes was still there.

At last, Lee nodded. "Very well, Mr. Oakley, Mr. Neider," he said soberly. "Return here tomorrow night, and we will begin."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 15th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean

"I presume," Mev Typhoon said rhetorically, sitting back comfortably in the _Kasselheim_'s captain's chair, "that for our services you will pay us _lucratively_."

The blustery-looking Junk Guild official on the screen mopped his brow nervously and nodded. "Of course, of course," he added. "We would never fail to pay you for your services. But please understand, captain, Gigafloat— "

"'— is a very important Junk Guild resource and must not be damaged too badly in combat,'" Mev finished. "You have made your point, director. Will that be all?"

"N-No," the official stammered. "But we do request that you come— "

"'— as soon as possible,'" Mev finished again. "Then we will see you as soon as possible."

The screen went dark. Mev glanced up at Viima and stood.

"We'll be at Gigafloat in about 52 hours," Mike said as he locked the course into the computer. "That is, if it's where they said it will be."

"Why would they move it?" Yun asked, confused. "They want us to come defend it, right?"

"We'll worry about that if it actually becomes a problem," Viima interrupted.

"I'll leave the bridge to you," Mev said stonily, turning to leave. "Inform me if anything happens."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Stella loved the sea; Shinn was never sure why, but he didn't see a reason to ask, and so left Stella to stare at the endless blue and giggle. That was exactly what she was doing when he found his way up to the deck, casting an apprehensive glance around. He didn't want to run into Kika here, not where they might be alone…

Stella glanced towards Shinn as he emerged from the ship. She smiled and began to move towards him, but stopped quickly as Shinn stopped awkwardly, dead in his tracks.

Shinn shook his head. Why was he afraid of Stella? Why did he not want to face her again? What he had done with Kika had no bearing on Stella— even if she knew, she wouldn't know what it meant. It didn't matter.

And yet Shinn still felt terrible about it. He looked back at her; why would he feel so terrible? Why would he feel as if he had lied?

"Is Shinn okay?" Stella asked. Shinn looked away, awkwardly coming up next to her on the railing. He tried not to look at her, unsure of what to say, unsure of what could be said.

"I'm okay," he said at last, looking down at the water.

Stella looked at him uncertainly for a moment before she looked back at the sea, but she was no longer smiling. Shinn looked back up at her. He had promised to protect her and he was her friend…but why so awkward? Why did he felt like he had lied?

"Shinn fought a battle again," she said quietly. She paused and looked back at him. "Shinn's always fighting battles."

Shinn tried not to look at her. "It's my job," he answered. "And if I didn't fight, I couldn't protect you."

Stella slowly looked back out at the sea. Shinn stared down at the water and said nothing more.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

Ruumari Star had the look of a wild animal ready to pounce when they finally let him out of the brig. He was gaunter, somehow hollow-looking, and had a terrifying dullness to his eyes. He walked tensely and rigidly, as if waiting for an attack any moment, ready to spring into action. Even Shiho kept her distance.

Upon his release, the first thing he did was return to his room for a shower and a change of clothes. That accomplished, he set out to search the ship. There was only one person that could help him now; not after Aoma and Luna had both had him thrown in the brig, and not after Shiho had given him a sound beating beforehand. No, only one person would do now.

The door to Rey Za Burrel's room opened with a hiss. Rey was diligently at work on his computer, and paused to give only the briefest of glances towards Ruumari as he entered.

"What do you want?" Rey asked brusquely, as the door slid shut. Ruumari didn't flinch, and Rey looked over in mild surprise at him.

"I want you to help me kill the traitor," Ruumari said coldly. Rey turned slowly around to face him fully. "You're the only one who can help me now," Ruumari added. "Aoma won't help me because she's too concerned with 'doing her duty' and all that crap. Lunamaria won't help me, she's not good enough. Shiho won't help me at all. So, you."

"Why?" Rey asked calmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He _shamed_ me!" Ruumari exclaimed. "Those bastards back there, that bitch Gladys, they're _holding me back!_ I can kill that guy! I can take that bastard down, but they won't give me the chance! They humiliated me!"

"You did that to yourself," Rey answered harshly, turning back to the computer. "The same happened to Shinn when he took an unauthorized flight."

"But I can take him down!" Ruumari shouted with a wild sweep of his hands. "Just help me! Give me the advice, tell me where to shoot, and I'll bring his head back to you if that's what it takes!" He scowled. "Don't you want him to die? Didn't he betray you too?"

Rey paused, and slowly looked back at Ruumari, coldly regarding him for a moment. At last he sat back and crossed his arms again.

"If you want to take down Shinn," Rey said calmly, "then we all have to work together."

Ruumari seemed unhappy with the idea, but nodded anyway. "Alright," he said.

"Which means you cannot take off of your own accord," Rey added coldly. Ruumari nodded again. "And you have to follow Commander Hahnenfuss's orders."

Ruumari paused for a moment, before swallowing his pride and nodding once more.

"Very well," Rey said. "You will have your chance soon enough, Ruumari. In the meantime," he paused and brought up something on his computer, "we have work to do."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Pacific Ocean

"Failure."

It was no easy feat for Ian Lee to watch the struggles of Sting Oakley, strapped to a chair in Lee's office, writhing and grinding his teeth against the effect of the block word. He was trying to suppress the fear, trying to control the reaction…but beads of sweat were already rolling off his brow, his eyes were growing bloodshot, his teeth were grinding, his fists were white as they clenched the armrests.

Lee cast a glance at Auel, who was slumped tiredly in his chair. He had gone first, and it had not been pretty. Lee was only thankful that they had found a way to route the technicians' computers to Lee's, allowing him to feed the technicians cooked-up data of mental normality, while Lee slowly broke the chains that bonded them to the Earth Alliance and to Neo.

Sting was trembling. "I didn't fail," he murmured to himself. "I didn't…or else…or else…"

Lee paused for a moment and steeled himself. "Failure," he repeated.

Sting lurched as if he had been punched, his body quaking as he tried to resist the block word's affects. His hands twisted around the armrest, his arms shaking. Lee contemplated stopping now, unsure of what would happen to Sting if he was not allowed to recover. He was still murmuring to himself, and Lee could hear his heartbeat even across from the desk.

Sting slowly looked up at Lee, determination burning like the sun in his eyes. Lee sighed; Sting would not stop.

"Failure," he said one more time. Sting grunted in pain, his eyes squeezing shut, and he trembled against the chair. There was nothing Lee could do; Sting was determined to see this through.

At last, Sting slumped backwards into the chair, unconscious, and his entire body seemed to relax instantly. Lee stood and undid his and Auel's restraints. They had earned their respite.

"You two," he said softly, "are the only hope the Alliance has left."

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Destroy Gundam, Neo Roanoke noted, was unstoppable. It was currently on the main screen in his office, plowing through three massive armies of the Muslim League. Nothing could stop it; the Muslim League threw the firepower of whole fleets of land battleships at it, but it was all useless against the Destroy's impregnable positron reflector. It effortlessly deflected concentrated beam cannon volleys as it stomped forward inexorably, with batteries of beam cannons blazing through mobile suits and warships and cities.

"Now you see," Lord Djibril said testily, from the screen of Neo's computer, "why your letting that Extended girl go was a costly mistake."

Neo glanced in irritation at Djibril, but held his tongue. "What are our orders, sir?"

Lord Djibril sat back in his chair, his cat draped in his lap and a glass of red wine in hand. He took a long sip before speaking. "Rumor has it that Dullindal plans to attack Orb," he said. "Of course we cannot let so terrible a fate befall our good friends the Seirans, so we will have forces ready to help defend the country from ZAFT." He looked pointedly at Neo; Neo nodded and smirked. "And so you will be charged with the task of protecting the commander of Orb's main fleet, Jona Roma Seiran. He still has use to us."

Neo glanced inquisitively at Djibril. "What kind of use?" he asked.

"Orb's surface fleet has been chasing the Orb Raiders around the Earth," Djibril said, pausing for a sip of wine. "Obviously, it has been unsuccessful. And of course, when ZAFT attacks Orb, Orb's surface fleet will be there to meet the Coordinators. Orb's fleet will be made to take the hardest blows, and so we will so ingratiate the younger Seiran to us, so that he will have no choice but to follow even our most direct orders. And so we will have at our disposal the Orb Space Fleet, to hunt down and get rid of the Orb Raiders once and for all."

"Why?" Neo asked disinterestedly. "What harm are they doing?"

"It's the harm they _will_ do," Djibril snarled, a scowl twisting its way onto his face. "They are led by Lacus Clyne and Cagalli Yula Athha, two naïve little girls who meddle in world affairs, as if we were all nothing but dolls. They will try to stop us when we make our final move. I am fairly surprised that they have not tried already. But they must not be allowed to have a chance."

"Then I shall rescue Jona," Neo said, "and bring him to you."

Djibril smiled.

"Precisely," he said.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 16th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

It was hard, Lunamaria Hawke noted, to look at the images on the screen and not think that they weren't losing the war.

Luna was sitting in the _Minerva_'s crew lounge next to Meyrin, both looking uneasily up at the crew lounge's main screens. On them were pictures of the Earth Alliance, with crushing numerical superiority and that damnable new Windam, launching a massive attack on ZAFT's Carpentaria base. A month ago, ZAFT and the Alliance had been locked in an even stalemate, as ZAFT reeled from its defeat at Arzachel Crater and the Alliance focused on conquering ZAFT's terrestrial allies. Now, however, the Oceania Union was property of the Republic of East Asia, the African Community was no more, the United States of South America was reduced to ashes, and the Muslim League was being brought to its knees by some terrible new mobile suit called Destroy.

It was all going to hell, but nobody wanted to outright admit it. Luna didn't see why— it wouldn't have made a difference either way.

"I guess we'll be going back to space soon," Luna said airily, sitting back and tuning out the dire news reports. Meyrin eyed her nervously. "What, you're not scared, are you?" Luna asked, arching an eyebrow.

"N-No," she said meekly, "but…" She trailed off. "But I think we're…" She trailed off again.

"We're losing," Luna said flatly. Meyrin looked down in defeat. "So yeah, we'll probably be going back to space soon." She heaved a sigh. "I guess this is to be expected, though."

"…if Shinn had stayed," Meyrin added sullenly.

Luna looked up at the ceiling awkwardly, wondering what Shinn was up to. He had joined that pirate ship that they had fought so many times, but the _Minerva_ had only a faint trail, and did not seem altogether too interested in the _Kasselheim_ anymore. The war was heating up again— the flagship of ZAFT had better things to worry about than a pirate ship.

The door opened; Luna glanced towards it and found a depressed-looking Aoma sliding through and slinking towards the soda machine. Luna cast a glance at Meyrin, who only shrugged back; before Meyrin knew it, Luna had grabbed her by the arm, hauled her up, and dragged her towards Aoma.

"And look who dropped by," Luna said, injecting cheer into her voice by force. Aoma blinked in surprise. "Where have you been?"

Aoma looked away awkwardly. "I've been busy," she said.

"Then what's wrong?" Luna pressed on, putting her hands on her hips. Aoma looked back at Luna and sighed.

"They let Ruumari out yesterday," she said, "but he won't talk to me." Luna blinked and looked over at Meyrin, who tried not to be noticeable. "It's like, I dunno, he's mad at me or something."

"Well, where is he?" Luna asked. Aoma shrugged.

"I thought I saw him going into Rey's room," she said awkwardly. Luna blinked again and shook her head.

"Never mind, then," she said. "We'll never get him out of there that way. He's turning into Shinn all over again."

Meyrin looked at Luna carefully, and as Luna and Aoma launched into a decidedly one-sided conversation about how annoying Ruumari was, Meyrin slipped away and headed towards Rey's room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, en route to Gigafloat, Pacific Ocean

"There is no hiding," George's voice said loudly, "that you are an emotional wreck, Shinn."

Shinn found himself on the _Kasselheim_'s deck again, with George coming towards him from the access hatch. He looked away from George and back towards the ocean.

"There is also no hiding that something is bothering Kika," George added, coming up next to him at the railing. "However, Kika knows better how to escape my interrogations than you."

Shinn said nothing, still staring at the water. He shook his head; why would he tell George of all people? Would he understand? Would he even care? But of course, George had been the one to guide him through the tangle of thorns that was the underworld, through those noxious colonies in space.

"While Kika and I were in the city," he began quietly, "we…" He trailed off and looked at George; George raised an eyebrow inquisitively at him. Shinn looked back at the ocean in shame. "We slept together."

George nodded, and looked out at the ocean himself. "Kika works as quickly as ever, I see," he said to himself. "And that is why you're an emotional wreck right now?"

Shinn didn't say anything.

"Why?" George asked.

"What do you mean 'why?'" Shinn asked back. "Most kids my age would be thrilled at finally getting some. I'm freaked out over it. Isn't that enough?"

"It doesn't answer my question," George responded, calm as ever. "Why are you freaked out over it?"

Shinn curled his fists around the railing. "I…" He scowled at the ocean and shook his head. "I don't feel right about it, alright? I don't feel like it was just something for fun like she said! I feel like I broke a promise or something!"

"Are your feelings for Stella that strong?" George inquired.

"I don't know!" Shinn snapped, whirling around to face him at last. "I don't know how I feel about Kika! I don't know how I feel about Stella! I don't know how I feel about _anything!_ What am I _supposed_ to feel?"

George stared back calmly at him, unruffled. Shinn looked away angrily. "What you are supposed to feel," George said, "is what you feel is right."

"I don't know what's right!" Shinn cried. He looked back angrily towards the ocean and squeezed his eyes shut. "I don't want to hurt her, but I don't want to hurt Stella either!" George regarded him carefully— Shinn looked back at him with wavering eyes. "She told me that Stella wouldn't understand, and she probably wouldn't, but that doesn't make me feel any better! I don't want _that_ out of Stella, and I didn't ask for it out of Kika either! And…" He looked back at the sea and pounded his fists against the rails.

"She tempted you," George filled in stoically.

"And I gave in!" Shinn exclaimed. "Why did I— "

George seized him by the collar before he could finish and shook him violently, snapping him out of his ranting.

"Of course you gave in," George said bluntly. "Kika knows all the buttons to push when she wants to get a man in bed, and your being only sixteen makes it even easier. So you screwed a girl you don't necessarily have feelings for. Big deal. Lots of people do that. What's the point of wallowing in this cesspool of self-pity over it?"

Shinn pulled himself out of George's grip. "She wants more than _that_," he shot back. "I can tell that. And it's not something I can give her."

"Of course not," George answered. "She knows that. You know that. So what's the problem?"

Shinn looked away. He didn't know; he didn't know anything, it seemed.

George sighed and shook his head. "You're a mystery, Shinn," he said. "You finally get some and you go into an emotional tailspin over it." He shrugged and turned around. "Well, beat yourself up over it if you must, but do keep in mind that you don't have to."

George headed back inside; Shinn remained on the deck, staring angrily at the sea.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

Rey knew immediately as the door opened that Ruumari was not on the other side. He didn't bother, therefore, to look and see who it was when Meyrin Hawke stepped into his room.

She let the door close behind her before she haltingly began to speak; Rey cast a withering glare towards her, silencing her.

"What is it?" he asked icily. Meyrin struggled for words for a moment, before plucking up her courage and speaking.

"I want to know why Shinn betrayed us," she said, surprising even herself with the clarity of her voice.

Rey looked back at his computer screen. "What makes you think I know?" he asked tonelessly.

"You were the closest person to Shinn while he was here," she said. "If anyone knows, you should know."

Rey glared back at her; she flinched but remained where she was. He looked back at the screen. "Shinn was weak," he said stoically. "He couldn't take— "

"That's not true!" Meyrin cried. Rey looked at her in surprise; Meyrin was glaring at him. "You keep calling him weak, but you don't know what you're talking about!" She shook her head. "You're the one who convinced him he was some kind of Newtype or— "

"What?" Rey growled, standing up and glowering at Meyrin. She blinked in surprise, cutting herself short. "How did you— " He too cut himself off and scowled at Meyrin.

"That's what you did!" Meyrin exclaimed. "That's what he kept shouting at you! That you were trying to force him to be some kind of Newtype for the Chairman! That's why he left, isn't it?"

Rey's face twisted into a crueler scowl, and he drew a gun from his desk, pointing it at Meyrin. "Get out," he snapped. Meyrin's eyes widened in disbelief and she darted out of the room.

Rey growled to himself as he put the gun back in its drawer, locking the door. Too many people were finding out about this.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Office of the PLANT Supreme Chairman, PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 4

The Destiny Gundam was truly a fine machine, Gilbert mused as he perused the blueprints. It combined the Impulse's three Silhouette packs into one machine, improving every armament; it was protected by beam shields and Phase Shift armor; it was powered by a nuclear engine protected by an N-Jammer Canceller. It was designed specifically to surpass the Freedom Gundam— after all, it wouldn't do to have Rau's little servant Kira piloting ZAFT's most powerful weapon.

Gilbert glanced over the specs and smiled. It was the embodiment of a Newtype. It could dominate the battlefield on its own, possessing enough speed and firepower to wipe out virtually anything thrown at it.

The only problem, Gilbert mused, his visage turning sour, was the pilot.

"Well," he murmured to himself, "you'll find your way back to me one way or another, Shinn."

He sat back, looking forward. ZAFT was losing the war— its allies were helpless and Carpentaria was under siege. There was no way to stop the Earth Alliance from once again seizing undisputed control of the Earth. But ZAFT was at home in space, and was far more powerful now than it had been in the Valentine War. The Earth Alliance's Windams and Destroy Gundams could not hope to match the firepower ZAFT had waiting in space.

Gilbert called up another set of blueprints and smiled. Solomon's Sword was coming along nicely. It would be done in a matter of weeks, and then he would be able to build his ZAKU Goliath, and finally cleanse the Earth Sphere of those parochial Oldtypes. They had no place in a world of Newtypes and order and progress. Not even the Alliance's Destroy units could stand up to the ZAKU Goliath, and nothing on Earth at all could stand up to the power of the Sword.

He sat back again, and crossed his arms, eyeing the blueprints. The war on Earth was lost…but that was alright. Soon, none of it would matter.

All that was left to do now was tend to Shinn.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 17th, CE 73 - Gigafloat, Pacific Ocean

Gigafloat was more impressive a sight to behold once one was on it rather than viewing it from a distance. The mass driver was an enormous platform on the waves, capable of all the normal functions of a standard mass driver that typically needed to be anchored to solid ground. At the moment, however, it was crowded with mobile suits of all make and model, many stamped with the distinctive Junk Guild logo. The Junk Guild members had pulled out all the stops for the defense of this platform.

As the _Kasselheim_ entered dock, Shinn noticed a familiar pair of mobile suits. He eyed the Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second L and gray ZAKU Warrior in surprise— it seemed Serpent Tail had come here as well. The familiar Gundam Astray Red Frame was not far away either, and Shinn thought back to his abortive combat meeting with the Red Frame's energetic pilot, Lowe Gear.

However, as he headed down a catwalk suspended over the platform, Shinn came upon something new— a familiar voice was around a corner, obscured by a tangle of pipes and support beams. He stopped dead in his tracks, and a moment later, a familiar figure rounded the corner.

Shinn stared ruefully at the face of Athrun Zala. There was another man nearby, taller and older, with blonde hair. Athrun glanced at him wordlessly; he nodded and headed down the opposite way, and Athrun turned his gaze back to Shinn.

"I didn't think I'd see you here," Athrun said, putting on a polite smile and extending his hand. Shinn hesitantly shook it. "I heard about your misadventures at the Marshall Colony and Aquapolis."

Shinn said nothing, looking away. Athrun arched an eyebrow inquisitively at him. "What are you doing here?" Shinn asked awkwardly.

"We were contacted by the Junk Guild," Athrun replied. "I suppose you were as well. The Junk Guild has requested help from anyone who will listen." Shinn leaned against the rail and stared scornfully at the horizon. "But you've become something of a celebrity in the underworld," Athrun added. Shinn looked back at him in surprise. "We may not even have to fight if our opponent knows that you're here."

"I'm a celebrity?" Shinn asked, dismayed. Athrun shrugged.

"Not many people can say that they infiltrated the Marshall Colony and escaped alive," Athrun said. "Your power is making you famous."

Shinn looked contemptuously back at the horizon. "Who is our opponent anyways?" he asked with a scowl.

Athrun looked away awkwardly; the silence prompted Shinn to glance back at Athrun, who looked back up uneasily.

"It's an enemy you should know well," Athrun said dourly.

Shinn blinked in surprise, his heart sinking. Athrun looked him grimly in the eye.

"Our enemy," he said, "is the United Emirates of Orb."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	32. Phase 32: The Mistakes We Once Made

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 32 - The Mistakes We Once Made

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 18th, CE 73 - Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_, near Gigafloat, Pacific Ocean

"Gigafloat in range, sir," the deckhand said nervously. "All ships are in range and all mobile suits are ready for launch."

Standing tall on the bridge of the _Takemikazuchi_, Jona Roma Seiran smiled tightly. Around him was arrayed Orb's formidable _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet, fourteen _Aegis_-class battleships and thirty-seven _Kuraokami_-class cruisers, steaming determinedly towards the great, expansive platform of Gigafloat and the motley array of mobile suits gathered on its hull, waiting patiently for the fleet to arrive.

Jona took up the microphone and glanced at one of the bridge crew, who nodded as he worked at his console.

"Junk Guild mass driver platform Gigafloat," Jona began authoritatively, relishing the feeling of his words being broadcast across the fleet and the platform and to every mobile suit, "this is Admiral Jona Roma Seiran of the United Emirates of Orb, aboard the Orb Navy flagship _Takemikazuchi_. In the interest of our nation's security, we demand that you disarm yourselves and surrender immediately."

Gigafloat did not move, nor did any of the mobile suits on it. Jona smirked— of course they would go down fighting.

"Should you refuse us," Jona continued, "we will attack and not stop until this mass driver is at the bottom of the ocean. Do not underestimate this fleet's strength."

Gigafloat and its mobile suits did not move— Jona smirked. _Of course_ they would refuse to surrender. None of them would be intimidated. But that was just as well— the _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet would now have a chance to show off its strength. And it only helped that, as he swept his gaze over Gigafloat, he could see the distinctive black hull of the _Megami_ there as well. Everything would fall into place here.

"Heat signatures rising," one of the bridge crew announced. "The mobile suits are beginning to move."

"Admiral," Todaka began hesitantly, looking at Jona. He smiled thinly.

"Inform Captain Kobayashi and Captain Taki to get their battle groups moving," he ordered. "Today we will finally take those terrorists down."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn scanned the ranks of the Orb fleet as the _Kasselheim_'s linear catapult activated. They were here, the forces of Orb, the forces that could chase a battleship around the Earth and attack a civilian mass driver facility but could not stop his family from dying on that Onogoro slope in CE 71. There was the Seiran commander on the bridge of that enormous aircraft carrier— he was coming to destroy them all.

Shinn scowled at the Orb fleet. He was finally fighting against Orb, fighting to finally have his vengeance, his justice…and yet Cagalli Yula Athha was not his enemy.

The Orb fleet opened fire— Shinn grunted as the Gigafloat platform quaked under the blows. The mobile suits began to move; Shinn clenched his fists around the Impulse's controls.

"Shinn Asuka, Impulse," he shouted, "_going out!_"

The Impulse took off with a roar. It darted up into the air over the _Kasselheim_, as the Orb mobile suits charged. Shinn scanned over the enemies— most of them were M1 Astrays with enormous Shrike backpacks, but there were a number of Murasames charging towards the mass driver as well. Shinn glanced back disdainfully at the _Megami_, as its mobile suits launched. There was the distinctive form of the Justice Gundam racing into the air.

"Shinn," George's voice began— Shinn glanced over his shoulder, and found George's CGUE rising into the air behind him.

"That thing can fly?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course it can," George said. "We modified our mobile suits for flight. But stop worrying about it. We have more important things to worry about."

Shinn returned his attention to the charging Orb mobile suits. He scowled— his job was to protect Gigafloat, and he would damned well do it.

The Orb mobile suits opened fire— Shinn felt his muscles go tense as he swung his shield up to block the shots. A squad of Astrays came streaking in— Shinn let out a scream and somersaulted over their head, picking off two of them in midair. The remaining two swung around, but were immediately shot down as the Gaia swept in with a pair of beam rifle blasts. The Gaia dropped down next to the Impulse with another beam rifle shot, picking off another Astray.

"They're trying to land the M1s on the platform!" a voice shouted. Shinn snapped his gaze downward— the Astrays were descending down towards the platform with beam rifles raised. Shinn took aim—

"Leave them to us!" Zora's voice shouted, as her GuAIZ rocketed down underneath the Impulse. "You handle the Murasames!"

Shinn looked back up, finding a wing of Murasame mobile suits in mobile armor mode charging straight at him, armed to the teeth with large anti-ship missiles. Shinn scowled at them.

"Stella," he said, "come on!"

The Impulse and the Gaia took off toward the Murasame wing.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

Lunamaria listened carefully as her sister, quivering in fright, tried to speak. Meyrin was on the bed, curled up, silent.

"He pulled a gun on you," Luna said sternly, staring intently at her sister. Meyrin nodded wordlessly, and Luna bit back a curse. "Who the hell does he think he is?" she snarled. "It's his fault Shinn betrayed us anyways."

Meyrin looked up at her in surprise. "It is?"

"Of course it is!" Luna exclaimed, burying her face in her hands. "Dammit, why didn't I see it earlier?" She shook her head. "All that Newtype stuff Shinn went on about! I should have known! And Rey kept shouting at him about it when we ran into him after he left!" She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Meyrin exclaimed. "Don't! Rey is…" She trailed off— Luna was not listening, and bolted out the door.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Gigafloat, Pacific Ocean

The Impulse roared as it dove up into the air, rocketing over a beleaguered M1 Astray and spearing it on a beam shot.

"This is just like fighting the Alliance," Shinn growled— he whipped around to shoot down another Murasame as it streaked in, beam gun blazing. As the smoldering Murasame plummeted towards the sea, Shinn cast a quick glance over Gigafloat. There were some burnt-out wrecks that had once been mobile suits, but so far, Orb's forces were unable to land on the platform.

Another Astray came charging up towards the Impulse— Shinn ducked aside and cut it down with a beam rifle shot. He glanced out at the Orb fleet— it would likely not be long before they stopped relying on their mobile suits and started blasting at the platform directly.

"Shinn!" he heard a voice shout. He looked up, and ducked aside as the hulking form of the Justice Gundam dropped down next to him. The face of Athrun Zala appeared on the screen. "They're not going to send mobile suits forever," he said dourly.

"We'll have to attack the ships to get them to leave," Shinn grunted— the Justice and Impulse rocketed apart as a Murasame came shrieking in, wings laden with anti-ship missiles. Shinn narrowed his eyes, spearing it on a beam rifle blast as it soared by, and fired the booster up into the air. Another trio of Murasames came shrieking in, firing their beam cannons. Shinn sent the Impulse diving aside as the Justice took cover behind its shield— he tilted the Impulse's rifle to the side, letting the Murasames slide into his sights, and pulled the trigger— the green bolt slammed through all three Murasames as they sailed towards Gigafloat, and all three Murasames exploded.

Athrun watched in disbelief as the Murasames' wreckage plunged into the ocean.

"Now I see why you're getting so famous," he said quietly, shaking his head. Shinn took off over his head, angling towards the rest of the Orb mobile suits—

A scream cut through the Impulse's cockpit— Shinn's eyes widened as a familiar sensation jabbed at his senses, and he whirled around, taking off towards Gigafloat. Down below, the Orb mobile suits were finally landing, and several of them were attacking the Gaia. It took cover behind its shield as a half-dozen M1 Astrays fired viciously at it, slowly advancing and pinning it down with more beam fire.

"Shinn— " Athrun began— he was cut short as the Impulse fired its booster, switching to its beam saber.

"You won't hurt her!" Shinn screamed. "I won't let you! _I WON'T LET YOU!_"

The seed burst before him; Shinn rocketed down into the Astrays' ranks, slicing three of them apart in one wide beam saber strike. The remaining three desperately tried to turn their weapons on Shinn, but with three more saber strokes, it was all over— the Impulse jetted backwards, landing in front of the Gaia and deflecting another beam blast with his shield.

"Shinn…" Stella murmured in disbelief as the Gaia got back to its feet.

Shinn glanced back at her. "Come on, Stella," he said calmly. "Let's end this battle."

The Impulse and Gaia took off, angling for the Orb fleet. Athrun dropped in next to them.

"Wait, Shinn," he said urgently. "What are you two doing?"

Shinn glanced at Athrun— he blinked in surprise at the look of dull, feral concentration in Shinn's crimson eyes.

"You said we're famous," Shinn said. "We're going to show you why."

The Impulse and Gaia rocketed towards the Orb fleet.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_

"Why can't we land anything?" Jona demanded, standing and balling his fists, staring furiously at Gigafloat as mobile suit after mobile suit was cut down. "They're just salvagers and mercenaries!"

"They're also in a better position to pick off mobile suits as they descend," Todaka pointed out.

"Then we'll give them something they _can't_ pick off!" Jona roared. "All ships, engage all weapons and fire at will on Gigafloat!"

Todaka watched somberly as the ships duly complied.

"Admiral!" a panicked voice screamed. "Two mobile suits approaching the fleet at high speed!"

"Who the hell would get that close to an entire fleet?" Jona demanded. "Identify them!"

The screens flashed to life— all eyes widened in horror.

"That…" Todaka began breathlessly.

Jona slumped into his seat in disbelief.

"…is the Impulse!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Gigafloat

A _Kuraokami_-class destroyer sat in the water, firing its CIWS at the charging Impulse and Gaia. It took aim with its dual cannon and fired; Shinn snorted in disgust, and the Impulse and Gaia jetted apart, letting the shells sail uselessly past. They both drew beam sabers and charged towards the desperate destroyer.

"We'll do this like we did at the Marshall Colony," Shinn said quickly. "We'll scare them off!"

Stella nodded enthusiastically— the two mobile suits boosted apart, taking off on both sides of the destroyer, and charged towards its flanks.

Shinn dove effortlessly through a wave of CIWS fire, cutting down a trio of anti-ship missiles with his own CIWS guns, and dove up over the _Kuraokami_'s hull. It raised its missile launcher to fire at him— he stabbed down into it with his saber, blowing it apart, and wiped out the ship's dual cannon with a CIWS burst. He turned— the Gaia rocketed into the _Kuraokami_'s bridge, beam saber extended, tearing the bridge out and ripping open the ship's sensitive innards. Shinn drew his beam rifle and deposited a single shot into the ship's engines— a roar of fire and smoke cracked the ship in two as the Impulse and Gaia took off.

"This isn't satisfying," Shinn murmured, as he scanned the fleet for his next target. "This isn't what I wanted…"

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_

"What the hell _IS_ he?" Jona demanded. He watched in disbelief as the Gaia Gundam descended on another _Kuraokami_, tearing it open and peppering its insides with CIWS bullets. As the ship began to break apart in plumes of fire, the Gaia took off, drawing its beam rifle and firing through the hull of another destroyer, wiping it out in a blaze. "We are the United Emirates of Orb! How can this be happening?"

The Impulse lunged down like a hawk into the hull of a destroyer, tearing it open with a beam saber blow, and kicking it down far enough into the water to flood its broken hull. As the ship began to sink, the Impulse turned its burning green eyes towards the larger hulk of an _Aegis_-class cruiser. It lunged up as the _Aegis_ opened fire; it darted down, brandishing its saber, and slashed the _Aegis_'s main gun off.

"Stop him!" Jona screamed. "It's only two mobile suits! Where the hell are our mobile suits?"

"Recall the Murasames!" Todaka shouted. "Abandon the attack on the platform! Focus on defending the fleet!"

"This is impossible!" Jona roared. "Shoot that goddamn Gundam down!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn looked up at the sound of beam shots, and dove aside as they plowed into the _Aegis_-class cruiser he was carving apart. The ship broke in two and exploded— Shinn watched carefully as Orb's mobile suits abandoned their attack on Gigafloat and turned to defend their fleet.

"Took you long enough," he grunted. "Stella! We'll keep attacking the ships!"

The Gaia rocketed towards an _Aegis_ cruiser and plunged its saber into the ship's bridge— Shinn speared a _Kuraokami_ on a beam rifle shot and charged towards the wounded _Aegis_, blowing off its main gun and switching to his saber. An M1 Astray, missing an arm and several armor panels, emerged with beam rifle drawn— Shinn sliced through it effortlessly and tore his way into the _Aegis_'s hangar. The mechanics scattered in terror as Shinn perforated the _Aegis_'s interior with CIWS shots and drove his saber into the hangar floor. The ship began to sink— Shinn ripped his way out with a vicious saber stroke.

Up above, inside the Justice Gundam, Athrun watched in disbelief as the Impulse and Gaia tore the Orb fleet apart with little more than their bare hands.

"They're…inhuman…" Athrun murmured.

"Aren't you going to help them?" a voice snapped. Athrun glanced over his shoulder— Cagalli's golden Akatsuki burst up into the air. "Come on! We're attacking the fleet directly! And if we're lucky, Jona with it!"

Athrun steeled himself and fired the booster.

Down below, among the ships, Shinn dove in between beam blasts from the returning mobile suits. It had been fun while it had lasted, but now he and Stella had more important things to worry about.

"Get back to Gigafloat!" Shinn shouted at Stella, as the Gaia rocketed towards the water and pulled up to avoid a flurry of beam blasts.

"But what about— " Stella began.

"Don't worry about me!" Shinn cut her off, spiraling out of harm's way as a pair of Murasames sliced by with a missile volley. "Just get— "

Shinn found himself cut off a moment later as beam blasts tore down through a squad of attacking Orb mobile suits. Shinn glanced over his shoulder anxiously— a moment later, he ducked aside instinctively as the Justice Gundam dropped down with a slash, tearing apart an Astray as it charged forward towards the Impulse.

"You have a habit of getting in over your head, don't you?" Athrun asked with a thin smile. A pair of Murasames came shrieking in, beam guns blazing; the Justice skirted aside and turned to fire, but Shinn picked them off with a pair of beam rifle shots and took off over the Justice's head.

"We still need to make them retreat," Shinn grunted, turning towards the ships. They were pulling back, guns blazing, under the cover of their mobile suits. Shinn took off towards one of the _Aegis_-class ships— sink enough ships and surely they would have to retreat.

"Shinn!" a voice called out. Shinn looked up— "Use this!"

An enormous sword spiraled out of the air, landing in the Impulse's hands, and Shinn looked up in surprise as the Blue Frame Second L landed on the back of the Justice's subflight lifter. Shinn nodded as Gai Murakumo pointed wordlessly at the fleet, and took off.

Brandishing the Tactical Arms sword, Shinn charged towards the _Aegis_. It fired desperately, and a trio of Murasames dropped in behind him, but a moment later, they were torn apart, and the Gundam Astray Red Frame burst out of the smoke, brandishing its Gerbera Straight.

"Having fun without us?" laughed the familiar voice of Lowe Gear as the Red Frame somersaulted over an M1, slicing its head off and kicking it into the ocean.

"Lowe!" Shinn exclaimed in surprise. A shell whizzed by the Impulse's head— he snapped his attention back to the _Aegis_ and scowled. "Cover me!"

"Wait, what are you— " Lowe began. Shinn took off, extending the Tactical Arms before him. A Murasame dove in behind him— Lowe sliced its wings off with the Gerbera Straight, sending it plunging into the ocean. An Astray on the _Aegis_'s deck raised its beam rifle— from above, the Blue Frame shot it off the _Aegis_'s deck. Shinn screamed as the Tactical Arms plunged into the _Aegis_'s hull, and he tore his way out through the stern of the ship. The bisected vessel exploded; Shinn charged further into the fleet's formation, slicing a _Kuraokami_ destroyer in half as he angled towards the massive aircraft carrier in the center of the fleet.

Another _Aegis_-class moved in between the charging Impulse and the _Takemikazuchi_. Shinn snarled a curse, diving aside to avoid its fire, as the Blue Frame landed with a crash, crushing the _Aegis_'s main gun. It slammed an Armor Schneider knife into the _Aegis_'s bridge and crushed a CIWS turret underfoot. Shinn leapt over the _Aegis_ as the Blue Frame mutilated it, brandishing the Tactical Arms sword. A squadron of Murasames swept in from above, but a flurry of beam shots cut them down— the Justice and the Gaia dropped in next to the Impulse, firing at the mobile suits defending the _Takemikazuchi_.

"Shinn!" Athrun cried. "I'll cover you! Go!"

Shinn's eyes flashed— he took off with Stella in tow, raising the Tactical Arms, and slashed his way through a quintet of Orb mobile suits.

"You won't stand in my way!" Shinn screamed. "I'll take you all down!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Impulse approaching!" the panicked deckhand shrieked on the bridge of the _Takemikazuchi_. Jona stared in disbelief— the Impulse Gundam, wielding an enormous sword, was ripping its way through a wave of defensive mobile suits. Even the Murasames were no match against the raging machine.

"Prepare to launch the retreat flares!" Jona screamed. "Launch them before that thing gets too close!"

"Admiral— " Todaka began.

"_We will not be killed by that Gundam!_" Jona roared. His eyes flashed as he turned on Todaka. "Get moving! _NOW!_"

Todaka stared hesitantly at Jona and finally turned towards the bridge. "Ready the flares, launch on my mark!" he ordered.

Jona scowled, clenching his fists around the armrests of his chair. That damned Impulse was just too powerful.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn blinked in surprise as he approached the _Takemikazuchi— _it was launching something into the air. He squeezed his eyes shut and took cover behind his shield and the Tactical Arms sword as that "something" exploded in a blinding flash of light.

"Those are retreat flares!" Athrun exclaimed. "Shinn!"

"I know!" Shinn grunted, shaking his head violently and pulling back behind his shield. He cracked an eye open— the Orb mobile suits were slowly pulling away, and the Orb fleet had thrown all their engines into reverse, clawing for distance. The motley army of Gigafloat's defenders pulled back as well, but as Shinn scanned their ranks, it was evident that they had not come out much better.

Shinn tossed the Tactical Arms sword back to the Blue Frame; Gai returned it to his mobile suit's back and hopped off the Justice's subflight lifter.

"I guess we've won," Athrun murmured, as the Orb fleet turned and took off.

Shinn scowled, watching them go. It hadn't satisfied him.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

Rey had expected Meyrin to go crying to Lunamaria about his rough treatment of her. And he was expecting Luna to come barging into his room to demand an explanation out of him. Hence, he hid on the _Minerva_'s observation deck. Surely she wouldn't find him here.

What surprised him, then, was when she found him.

"What the hell is your problem?" Luna shouted as soon as the door had shut. Rey resignedly turned around to face her, only to be met with a resounding smack across the face. He staggered to the side, staring at her with wide and furious eyes. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Luna shouted. "How _dare_ you pull a gun on my sister! All she wanted to know was why Shinn left us!" She scowled. "And you would know that, wouldn't you? You were the one who forced him away!"

"You do not understand what you are talking about," Rey said as coolly as he could, keeping his anger in check.

"I know damn well what I'm talking about!" Luna snapped. "Shinn was our friend and you chased him away! I _watched_ you chase him away and I'll never forgive myself for letting you do it! He was suffering, he had these _powers_ he couldn't explain, and instead of helping him bear the burden you made it worse!"

Rey scowled and sent Luna staggering back with a slap to the face.

"No," he said with chilling calm, "you do _not_ understand why Shinn left, why he is so weak, why I must destroy him." He narrowed his eyes at Luna threateningly and reached into his uniform. "If you will stand in the way of my vengeance," he added, "you will be _removed_."

Luna snarled a curse at Rey and stormed out of the room. Rey replaced the handgun in his uniform and scowled after her. The Hawke sisters, it seemed, were becoming troublesome.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Gigafloat, Pacific Ocean

Shinn felt strangely used to the sight of cheering crowds greeting him as he lowered himself to the ground on the Impulse's zip line. He still disliked the feeling— all he had done was his job, and at the time, attacking the Orb fleet with a beam saber had seemed like the most expedient way of doing it. But that was not the way the cheering crowds saw it, and so as he touched down, he tucked his helmet under his arm, put on a smile, and made his rounds through the adulation.

Athrun Zala stood nearby, his helmet loosely held in one hand, watching Shinn in disbelief. Shinn slalomed his way out of the crowd, making his way towards Athrun, his smile vanishing.

"I want to talk," Shinn said simply. Athrun blinked in surprise. Shinn ignored the voice of reason in the back of his mind, warning him that he was getting into a mess. "Somewhere where nobody will bother us. It's important."

"…alright," Athrun said uneasily, glancing over his shoulder. They both stepped aside, towards the kneeling Justice Gundam, casting anxious glances towards the celebrating Junk Guild workers. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about Kira," Shinn said flatly.

"Kira?" Athrun echoed. "Why— "

"I want to finish things," Shinn added, his voice blunt and determined. "Once and for all."

Athrun looked at Shinn carefully. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You were right," Shinn said grimly. "It wasn't Cagalli that killed my family. It wasn't Uzumi. And it wasn't Orb." He scowled. "It was _him_." He nodded towards the horizon, and the smoldering wrecks of the sinking Orb ships in front of Gigafloat. "Out there, I was fighting Orb. I thought I'd finally have closure. I thought I'd finally finish things. But it didn't make me feel any different. They aren't my enemy. They aren't the ones I have to defeat to have any closure. Kira is. I want you to tell me about him."

"Shinn," Athrun said, taking him by the shoulder, to his surprise. "That's not the way you'll ever have closure. Taking one life to avenge another won't solve anything."

"Then what will?" Shinn snapped back, glowering at Athrun. "Running around and tearing weapons from people's hands? I can't just take what I saw and let it go! I have _do_ something about it!" Shinn seized Athrun by the open collar of his flight suit, his eyes burning angrily. "I did not watch my family die to just forgive and forget! I did not carry on with my life all alone just to forgive and forget! I'm not living now just to forgive and forget! I couldn't protect _them_, but I still have Stella, I still have Kika, I still have my friends, and I can protect _them!_" He let Athrun go angrily. "You should understand that better than anyone else, Athrun," he growled. "You fought to protect the PLANTs because you couldn't protect your mother. You took lives to avenge lives taken. And then you decided that it didn't solve anything, and you joined Lacus, and look where _that_ got you! We're back in the middle of a war! Now don't give me that 'eye for an eye makes the whole world blind' crap! Of course it does, and once we're all blind, we realize what a stupid idea it was in the first place, but that doesn't stop us from doing it! Now tell me about Kira Yamato!"

Athrun stared at Shinn silently for a moment, before he finally shook his head sadly. "You don't take no for an answer, I suppose," he said. He looked back up at Shinn, and gestured for them both to sit on the Justice's foot. Shinn watched Athrun carefully for a moment as he chose his words. "Kira and I went to the same school on Copernicus before the Valentine War. My father recalled me to the PLANTs as the situation worsened, and Kira and his family moved to Orb's colony, Heliopolis." He paused. "My mother was killed on Junius 7, and I joined ZAFT like any other Coordinator in the PLANTs. Kira stayed on Heliopolis, determined to stay out of the war. He was a kind and peaceful boy; naïve, but not doing anyone any harm."

"Then why is he piloting the Freedom?" Shinn asked testily.

Athrun looked down at the floor sullenly. "The Earth Alliance was building five prototype Gundams on Heliopolis with Orb's help," he explained. "My team was sent to steal or destroy them. Kira commandeered the remaining Strike, the only one we hadn't stolen, to protect his friends, and he was pressed into service on the _Archangel_." He clenched his fists as unpleasant memories returned. "My unit chased him to the Earth, and all the while I tried to convince him to join ZAFT. He was a Coordinator and I thought his place was with us. He refused, because his friends were Naturals and he was determined to protect them. It was a bad situation all around." He shook his head. "We chased the _Archangel_ down to Earth. During the fighting, Kira had me cornered, and was about to finish me off. My teammate Nicol leapt in and took the blow for me…and I watched him die by Kira's hand."

"Then why didn't you kill him?" Shinn asked. "You should know better than anyone how I feel, Athrun."

"I tried to," Athrun said somberly. "I set out to kill him at all costs, and during the battle, I killed one of his friends. I threw him into a rage, and in the end, we both destroyed each other's machines and thought the other dead. Kira was taken to the PLANTs to recover, I was picked up by Orb." He shook his head again. "In the PLANTs, Lacus Clyne gave Kira the Freedom Gundam, and he went to Earth to resume protecting the _Archangel_. I was given the Justice and sent to retrieve the Freedom. I found Kira fighting at Orb, and you know the rest." He looked up towards the sinking sun. "Kira was not a warrior. Kira was kind and compassionate. I can only recall him once being otherwise…and that was when I had killed his friend."He paused. "But he's not evil. He never was. I refuse to believe that Kira has become evil." He looked at Shinn. "Kira is not a mere monster. He's just as complicated as you and I, Shinn. The only difference is, he's on the other side."

"Of course he is," Shinn snorted. "That doesn't make him any less of an enemy."

Athrun looked down at the floor. "No," he said, "it doesn't."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Mev Typhoon was a towering figure over the stalwart-looking Cagalli Yula Athha. She did not look intimidated, but she certainly looked dwarfed, as they both stood in the fading twilight sun on the deck of Gigafloat.

"I understand you wanted to talk to me," Mev said. Cagalli nodded hesitantly.

"We heard about your adventures on the Marshall Colony," she said, "and since you escaped, we presume that you completed your job."

Mev regarded her silently for a moment. "You posted that job," he said. Cagalli nodded. Mev reached into his pocket, producing a disk and handing it to her. "Then you should be most pleased to know that we were indeed successful." He straightened up. "We will accept our payment now."

"Of course," Cagalli said sullenly, looking down at the disk. "However…"

"However?" Mev asked, arching an eyebrow.

"We have the Orb fleet crippled and off balance," she said, "and Jona Roma Seiran is a man who needs to be destroyed, or there will never be peace in the world, let alone Orb." She looked back up at Mev. "We will triple your payment if join us in chasing down the Orb fleet and finishing it off."

Mev was silent a moment. "That would be difficult," he said. "We are only two ships and a couple dozen mobile suits strong, going up against an entire battle fleet. And though it has been defeated and damaged, it is still strong."

"I know!" Cagalli exclaimed. "But Orb…but Orb has no right to be out here in the world, fighting a war it has no part in! Jona has no right to be out here! We have to stop him!"

"And to do that, you will kill hundreds upon hundreds of Orb military personnel," Mev countered. "Personnel who have nothing to do with Jona Roma Seiran and his ideology, personnel who are only doing their jobs. Are you sure what you are doing is the right thing?"

Cagalli looked away angrily. "Yes," she said, "I am." She looked back at Mev. "In the Valentine War, Orb was a sanctuary. The people who didn't want to fight, who didn't have a place in the world or the war, could come here and find shelter. That shelter has disappeared. We're going to bring it back."

Mev regarded Cagalli for a moment. "I would hope you have a better plan than Uzumi when the winds of change come calling."

"We do," Cagalli said flatly.

Mev extended his hand. "Very well, Miss Athha. We will help you."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	33. Phase 33: The Enemy of My Enemy

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 33 - The Enemy of My Enemy

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 18th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

"Shinn Asuka is not a normal opponent," Shiho said authoritatively, arms crossed before the _Minerva_'s mobile suit pilots in the _Minerva_'s briefing room. "He has undeniable skill, and is a good enough pilot to render most combat tactics useless. We have to be creative and diligent in order to defeat him." She glanced coldly at Rey; he looked back just as coldly. "Rey has come up with a strategy we will use against him in our next encounter."

Rey glanced over the pilots; Luna was staring suspiciously and contemptibly at him, Aoma looked tired and unhappy, and Ruumari looked like an animal ready to strike.

"In order to defeat Shinn we need to attack quickly enough to leave him no time to react to our attacks," he said. "We will try a new formation for aerial mobile suit combat, wherein all of us will line up single-file and attack Shinn's Impulse head-on." He glanced at Lunamaria. "Because we need to stun the Impulse and knock Shinn off balance before the rest of us can attack, Lunamaria will be the leading attacker."

Lunamaria's eyes widened in disbelief at Rey, but she said nothing. Shiho glanced at him suspiciously and frowned.

"Captain Gladys has not yet ordered the _Minerva_ to attack the _Kasselheim_," Shiho continued. "However, when she does, we will attempt to use this maneuver against Shinn. In the meantime, we are all to practice getting it right in the simulator." He paused for a moment. "The _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_ will be joining us for our attack when we choose to make it." Rey narrowed his eyes momentarily at Luna. "Dismissed."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean

The _Megami_ and the _Kasselheim_ had strung between them a long rope bridge, which allowed for fairly easy, if not somewhat nerve-wracking transport between the two ships. Cagalli Yula Athha had been spending a considerable amount of time on the _Kasselheim_, going over battle plans with Mev Typhoon.

Shinn Asuka sorely wanted to know why she couldn't stay on her own damn ship.

He was standing on the _Kasselheim_'s open-air deck, staring disdainfully at the sleek black hull of the _Megami_. Cagalli was on the _Kasselheim_, but as far as Shinn knew, she was on the bridge, meaning Shinn was going to steer clear of the bridge until she left. He was not ready to face her yet, and did not want to get into an argument or cause a scene or deal with her in any way. And the easiest way to avoid that, of course, was to avoid her.

He looked back out at the sea, determined not to look at Cagalli and her ship. He turned over Athrun's explanation about Kira in his mind— a complicated figure to be sure, this Kira Yamato. Coupling Athrun's explanation with Rey's, he began to put together a crude biography of his enemy, and saw his foe as a victim of circumstances, who had not been strong enough to deal with all the agonies life had inflicted upon him. And life had been quite liberal in the infliction of those agonies— but Shinn couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for Kira. For as much suffering as Kira had gone through himself, he had inflicted it all back on other people.

Shinn heard the sound of one of the doors opening, and for a moment, dreaded that the argument had come to him. Instead, even before he turned around, he felt another presence…and immediately the sinking feeling in his stomach returned.

"What the hell are you avoiding me for?" Kika demanded, storming up to him with all the elegance of a lahar. Shinn turned around, cringing and steeling himself for the conversation he had been dreading. "You've been hiding from me for the past three days," Kika said, stepping in front of him and demanding his attention. "What's going on with you?"

Shinn looked away, wondering what he was supposed to think.

"This is what I was afraid would happen, Shinn," Kika said tiredly, taking him by the shoulders. He looked back at her, blinking. "You attached all this emotion and meaning to the simple act of having sex and now look where it's gotten you. You can't even talk to me."

Shinn turned away angrily, looking back out at the ocean resolutely.

"Shinn!" Kika exclaimed just as angrily. "Stop being so difficult! I thought I was doing you a favor!"

"You said I attached all that emotion to it," he said quietly, looking down at the water. "Isn't that interesting."

Kika fell silent, blinking at what he had to say. He whirled around angrily.

"You wanna know why I attached emotion to it?" he asked, glaring at her. "You're the one who keeps calling me some kind of Newtype super-soldier. Well, you know what? That's the problem! I attach emotion to it because I _feel_ emotion about it! And it's not even how _I_ feel! It's how someone else feels!" He shook his head and seized her by the shoulders. "I want to protect you," he said, "as much as I want to protect Stella. I know how you feel about me. You want to know how I feel about that? It scares me. Because I _don't_ know how _I_ feel about _anything_, and _nothing_ feels worse than that! I don't want to have to choose between you! I'm not _going_ to choose between you! I care about you both and I'm going to protect you both! So _don't make me choose!_"

Kika stared into Shinn's wide, angry, quivering eyes for a moment, before she threw her arms around him. Shinn blinked in surprise, backing up against the railing.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Shinn blinked again.

"What?" he asked blankly.

"It was selfish of me," she said, hugging him tightly. "I only dragged you into bed because I wanted to have a set of happy memories to look back on in case one day you did something insane and didn't come back." She pulled away far enough to look into his eyes, but kept her arms wrapped tightly around him. "You keep going out there and attacking battle fleets on your own, and I get scared that that's the last time I'll ever see you." She looked down sullenly. "I know you're trying to protect me and that seems like the best way of doing it, but I've seen people die doing stuff like that, and I don't want the same thing to happen to you."

"I'm not going to die that easily," Shinn began.

"I know, but when I see you throwing yourself at battleships armed with a beam saber, it's not very easy to remember that," Kika replied, looked back up at him.

"You want me to be more careful?" Shinn asked. Kika looked away awkwardly.

"I…just want you to come back," she said.

Shinn hesitated a moment. "I promised you I would," he said. "I can't protect you if I don't."

"Is that all it's about?" Kika asked. "Just protecting people?"

Shinn looked back at the ocean. "It's all I can do," he said.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 19th, CE 73 - Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_, Pacific Ocean

"This is _intolerable!_" Jona shrieked, hurling a ream of navigational charts across the bridge of the _Takemikazuchi_. "We are the navy of the United Emirates of Orb! We possess technology that rivals even the PLANTs! And yet we were defeated by a handful of cobbled-together machines and junkyard rabble? _Impossible!_" Another chart went sailing across the bridge, narrowly missing a less than fortunate sonar officer. "Todaka! What is our ETA for Orb waters?"

From his hiding place near the captain's chair, Todaka stepped forward warily. "We have another three days' sailing ahead of us, sir," he said. "And the reactors are too overworked to be pushed beyond 100 percent. If we go any faster, we'll blow the reactors out and then we won't get _anywhere._"

"I know that!" Jona snapped. "But as long as we're drifting along like this, we're easy prey for Cagalli and her little children!" He turned angrily towards the bridge displays. "We will— "

"Admiral!" a voice spoke up. Jona and Todaka turned to face a breathless crewman, holding a sheet of paper. Jona seized the page from him and stared down at it contemptibly. His anger vanished, replaced with ashen horror.

"What is it, Admiral?" Todaka asked uneasily.

"Read this," Jona said, shoving the page into Todaka's hands, "and tell me again that we can't push the reactors." Todaka looked down at the page, and a moment later his own eyes widened in disbelief.

"ZAFT is planning an attack on our homeland?" he breathed.

"We are still 72 hours out from Orb," Jona growled, "and the intelligence says ZAFT intends on attacking in eight days." He swung around angrily to face Todaka. "You get these ships operational and back to Orb by the 20th, or so help me God I'll have you shot!"

"Yes sir," Todaka said dourly. Jona stormed off the bridge— Todaka glanced warily over his uneasy crew. "You heard the Admiral," he said. "Notify all ships that we're heading back home at flank speed." He narrowed his eyes at the page. "We have a greater enemy to fight now."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Pacific Ocean

Neo Roanoke sat back, arms crossed, studying the screen with interest.

"So the Orb Raiders and the Mad Typhoon Gang have joined forces," he said with a chuckle. "I guess it's worth it to have that kid in the Impulse on your side."

Lee cast Neo a wary glance. "What are our orders, sir?" he asked.

Neo sat back and activated the main screens from the panel on his armrest, and immediately the screens came to life with an image of the Destroy Gundam wiping out another Muslim League army.

"That thing," he said, "is probably going to take another week, tops, to finish off the Muslim League." To punctuate Neo's point, the Destroy crushed a Muslim League land battleship underfoot. "ZAFT, meanwhile, is planning an attack on Orb in order to relieve pressure on Carpentaria and the Muslim League. We are setting course for Orb to hang out there and wait for ZAFT's attack." He sat back with a smile. "Things are going well, Lee. The Muslim League's on its last legs and Carpentaria won't last through the month. All that's left is to crush them at Orb and finish them off at Antarctica."

"And then what?" Lee asked dubiously. Neo's smile grew a little wider.

"What do you think, Lee?" he asked. "Would the Alliance be content to let ZAFT slink away back to space to lick its wounds?"

Lee looked back resolutely at the ocean. "Last time we followed them up there, they stopped us at their doorstep."

"That was because we didn't bring a big enough battering ram," Neo responded. "This time will be different."

Neo allowed himself a feral smirk. Lee said nothing more.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

Talia Gladys tossed her clipboard back onto her desk with a sigh. Another day, another farcical order from a far-away commander with at best poor knowledge about the situation on the ground.

"Did you see this, Arthur?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at Arthur, standing uncomfortably behind her, and gesturing disgustedly towards the clipboard. "Mideast Command is ordering us to the Muslim League to fight that Destroy thing."

"But we've already been ordered by the Chairman to follow the _Kasselheim_," Arthur said, crestfallen.

"Exactly," Talia said with a sigh. "It's only been two years, have we forgotten how to fight a war? In October things were going awfully well."

"Which order are we going to follow, Captain?" Arthur asked. Talia glanced up at him.

"If we go the Middle East, we'll get out of this miserable assignment to hunt down Shinn," she said, sitting back. "On the other hand, we'll just be getting in line to get torn apart by that Destroy unit." She paused. "If we stay with the Chairman's orders, we'll probably avoid the Destroy…but we'll have to keep chasing Shinn, and we both know how much drama _that_'s causing." She shrugged. "We'll stick with the Chairman's orders. It's a devil we know."

Arthur looked sullenly down at the clipboard. "When will the _Deliverance_ arrive to join us?" he asked.

"Five days," Talia answered, standing up and wandering towards the front of her office.

"They give me chills," Arthur complained. "Le Creuset never takes that mask off."

Talia nodded grimly. "He _should_ give you chills," she said. She turned around. "He's got a storied past."

Arthur blinked, but said nothing more. Talia sighed again and looked back towards her bookcase.

"Carpentaria won't last much longer," she said wearily, "and it won't be long before they take out Antarctica too." She glanced back at Arthur. "Order some refresher courses for space operations for the crew. We'll probably be needing them soon."

Arthur paused solemnly for a moment. "Yes ma'am," he answered.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 20th, CE 73 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Pacific Ocean

The _Kasselheim_, Athrun decided, was just about the ugliest ship he had ever seen. Not that he really minded— the _Gamow_ hadn't been much of a beauty either— but the cobbled-together battlecruiser looked ready to fall apart at any moment. Clearly, it was some genius construction, some excellent captaining, and some outstanding mobile suit pilots that kept this thing in one piece.

Clearly, it was Shinn.

Athrun stood on the deck of the _Megami_, in the warm Pacific sun and the cool breeze, looking at the creaky _Kasselheim_. He glanced towards the door as it opened, and turned towards Lacus with a polite smile as she stepped out onto the deck.

"Athrun," she said, surprised. "You spend a lot of time up here."

"The Earth's sea is a lot nicer than the PLANTs'," he said with a shrug, looking back out at the _Kasselheim_. Lacus followed his gaze and smiled.

"That's not all of it, though, is it?" she asked, coming up next to him.

Athrun smiled himself and shook his head. "I feel like I have to watch over him," he said. "Shinn, I mean."

Lacus looked at the _Kasselheim_ herself for a moment. "He reminds you of yourself," she said, "doesn't he?"

"When I was younger," Athrun added. "During the Valentine War." He allowed himself another smile. "When you smacked me over the head and told me to wake up."

Lacus looked back over at Athrun. "I didn't _smack_ you," she said, smiling at him. Athrun let out a chuckle.

"Well, that was the effect it had," he said. "That's what Shinn reminds me of." He looked back at the _Kasselheim_. "He wants to do his best to protect what he cares about, and he feels like the only way to do that is to run around the battlefield and kill the people who want to destroy what he's protecting. It's how we all feel. We just have different ways of protecting what's important to us." He sighed. "Except that Shinn's a lot more determined than I was."

"You were determined enough to fight," Lacus said, glancing over at Athrun. "Regardless of what side you were on when you fought. You did what you felt had to be done as well." He shook his head.

"I was determined enough to fight people I didn't know," he corrected. "It's easy to kill your enemies when they're just a bunch of mobile suits, and you can't see the people inside. Once you're fighting a mobile suit with your best friend in the cockpit, it gets more complicated. I had to fight Kira, and I felt that I had to capture him and bring him back to ZAFT, or failing that, to destroy him. I couldn't do that. I don't think Shinn would hesitate— if he'll throw himself at an entire battle fleet, I doubt he'd hesitate if he felt his best friend had betrayed him, and that friend had to be destroyed."

Lacus looked back at the _Kasselheim_, pausing for a moment. "Determination is a two-edged sword," she said. "If you are on the wrong path, your determination makes it harder to step off that path and find a better one."

Athrun nodded. "That's why I feel like I have to watch over him," he said. "And that's what I'm going to do."

Lacus was silent another moment. "There is something special about him," she said. Athrun looked at her in surprise. "He has such power and skill and determination, but all he wants to do with it is protect that which is important to him."

Athrun cast his gaze back towards the _Kasselheim_. "He's like Kira," he said quietly.

Lacus nodded. "And that," she said, just as quietly, looking at Athrun, "is why I want to watch over him as well." Athrun looked back at her in surprise. "Because Shinn should not have to go down the path Kira went down."

Athrun nodded slowly. "He shouldn't," he agreed. He glanced at Lacus. "And we'll make sure he won't."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean

Stella Loussier stared confusedly across the deck. On the port side, she had been looking out at the sea, happy as ever, when she had heard the door open. Shinn had stepped out, but he hadn't even seemed to notice her, as he angrily made his way over to the starboard side, glowering at the _Megami_. She watched him uneasily. He was so angry, but he couldn't imagine why— the people on the _Megami_ didn't seem like they were mean.

"Why's Shinn so mad?" she asked quietly. Shinn turned around in surprise— his eyes widened as he caught sight of Stella.

"It's nothing," he said quickly, turning away again. Stella stared at him for a moment, before she looked at the _Megami_.

"Shinn doesn't like them," she said. "How come?"

Shinn was silent a moment. He glanced back at Stella unhappily.

"It's complicated," he said at last. "Don't worry about it."

"But it's making Shinn angry," Stella pressed on, coming up next to him and looking at him worriedly. "Stella wants to know why."

"It doesn't matter," Shinn said. "We have to work with them no matter what we think."

Stella did not appear satisfied, but said nothing. Shinn glanced at her uneasily. "They're nice," Stella said quietly, looking over at the _Megami_. "They were nice to Stella."

"Of course they were," Shinn grumbled. "They're nice to everyone." He glanced at Stella again and shook his head. "If you had to fight Neo, Stella, would you?"

Stella looked at him blinkingly for a moment. "Stella has fought Neo," she murmured.

Shinn blinked in surprise. "You did?" he asked. "When?"

"In space," Stella said, looking up blankly at the sky. "Neo attacked Stella…"

"And you fought him?" Shinn asked.

"Neo was gonna hurt Stella," she said. "…and Shinn."

Shinn fell silent, staring at her, and then he looked back at the _Megami_. "Would you fight Neo again?" he asked. Stella looked at him in surprise. "I mean, I wouldn't make you fight him…but if you had to…"

"Neo lied," Stella said simply.

She looked back at the ocean and said no more. Shinn shook his head. It was so easy for her to fight even her beloved Neo, and yet Shinn could hardly stand to look into Stella's eyes. He glanced at her again, turning to leave, but she was happily distracted by the sea.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Why, exactly, are we going off to join some little rebellion in Orb?"

Mike stared skeptically across the bridge at an indignant Cagalli Yula Athha, while Athrun Zala tried to get her to calm down and listen to reason.

"You have to help us!" Cagalli shouted angrily. "We need your help! We have to bring Orb back!"

"Looks to me like it's still where you left it," Yun said sarcastically, glancing at Mike's navigation console. "And why are we obligated to help you?"

"We only agreed to help you attack the _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet, Miss Athha," Mev added, glancing stoically at Cagalli's companions and then back at her. "We did not sign on to fight a civil war with you."

"Cagalli," Athrun began helplessly, "we can't expect them to join us out of the goodness of their hearts. They have a crew to feed too."

"It's not just our concern!" Cagalli snapped. "The world has to have a haven like Orb, so that only the people who want to fight a war have to fight one!"

"You seem to be dragging us into one whether we like it or not," another voice spoke up. Athrun and Cagalli turned around in surprise, and all eyes fell on Shinn Asuka at the bridge doors.

"Shinn— " Viima began angrily, rising from her seat. Mev stopped her, looking wordlessly at Shinn with an almost imperceptible nod. Shinn caught it and took a step forward.

"You're trying to make a place where we can find refuge from war," Shinn went on, "but you're dragging us all into a war to do it. You want to make some place where we don't have to fight a war if we don't want to, but you're making us fight a war we don't want to fight in order to do it."

"That's not what we're doing!" Cagalli shouted. Shinn scowled back.

"Then what _are_ you doing?" he asked.

"Shinn," Athrun began, stepping between him and Cagalli. "This isn't the time."

"And when will 'the time' be, then?" Shinn shot back. "Why should we have to fight your civil war with you?"

Athrun said nothing, looking at Cagalli.

"If this is because of the battle at Onogoro— " Athrun began cautiously.

"No," Shinn snapped, "it's not." He scowled fiercely at Athrun. "I don't want to fight for Orb. I don't want to fight for some false pretense of building a sanctuary, when the leaders will be idiots and get us all attacked again."

"Idiots?!" Cagalli shouted, forcing her way out from behind Athrun and storming towards Shinn. "My father was not an idiot!"

"Only an idiot would look at an Atlantic Federation invasion fleet and tell it to go screw itself!" Shinn responded, glowering at her. "Did your exalted father ever think of what might happen if he pissed them off and they attacked?! Did he think of the stakes he was playing for? Or was his little ideology so much more important than the citizens?!"

Athrun stopped Cagalli before she could get any closer to Shinn; she glared hatefully at Shinn instead. "You have no right to speak of my father that way!" she cried. "He was a noble man, and it was his ideals that gave you a place to live, where you wouldn't be persecuted for being a Coordinator!"

"And a lot of good _that_ did me," Shinn shot back. "In the end, it was his stupid policies and his stupid decisions that made the Atlantic Federation invade us! He said he'd protect us? He did a hell of a job protecting my family!" He pointed vindictively at Cagalli. "Don't give me that bullshit about him being a great man! I don't care if he was or not— it was his fault that the Atlantic Federation destroyed us!"

"It doesn't matter who the Chief Representative was, Shinn," Athrun put in quickly, interposing himself between Cagalli and Shinn again. "The Atlantic Federation wanted that mass driver and one way or another they were going to get it."

"And we could have just let them use it!" Shinn raged. "Nobody would have had to die that way! We wouldn't have been conquered that way! But _your father_," he cast his glare back to Cagalli, "he just _had_ to try and tell them off! Are you saying that's how we should live? We should forget what's going on around us and do something stupid, because that's our ideal? We should assume that everyone's going to just go away because we're standing so firmly in our position? This is a _war_, you idiot! You stand firmly and refuse to retreat on the battlefield and you'll die!"

Cagalli said nothing, trembling in rage. Shinn whirled around furiously to storm out of the bridge. Athrun glanced at Mev; he nodded wordlessly, and Athrun released Cagalli to follow Shinn.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn didn't need to turn around to know who was following him. That vaguely confused, generally surprised and angry presence was obviously Athrun Zala.

Nonetheless, Shinn whirled around angrily, startling Athrun. "What do _you_ want?" he snapped. "Are you here to tell me how wrong I am and Cagalli's really a wonderful person with a wonderful goal that will of course not fail?"

"That was unnecessary," Athrun said flatly. "Disagree with Cagalli if you must, but there is no reason to go picking fights with her, or anyone else."

Shinn snorted in disgust. "Someone has to tell her when she's doing something stupid," he said. "Obviously, none of you have, or else you wouldn't be cavorting after the Seirans like this." He crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you don't see the hypocrisy here. You can't be _that_ stupid. She wants to create some place where we won't have to fight in wars, and to do that, she's trying to drag us into fighting a war."

"It's better than our alternative," Athrun answered. "It's better than running around the world killing people, getting dragged into wars where we have nothing to protect and no reason to fight, killing people for no greater reason than some politician told us to." He took a measured step closer. "Would you rather be fighting to protect your friends, to protect Stella Loussier, or would you rather be fighting for Dullindal and his failed ambitions on Earth?"

"Does it matter?" Shinn shot back. "Either way, I still have to fight." He uncrossed his arms. "Your little paradise is supposed to mean that I don't have to fight at all. Well, guess what, not everyone is as lovey-dovey and peaceful and idealistic as you. They'll do what they did Orb in CE 71 again, and they'll keep doing it. Whenever you insist on doing your own thing, there's always going to be somebody trying to get you to do things their way. Orb is not going to change that. In the end you'll have to fight again, like you had to fight at Orb two years ago."

Athrun watched Shinn carefully for a moment. "Why do you have such a problem with what we're trying to do?" he asked. "Why won't you join us? It would be in your best interest— a place where you no longer have to fight to protect Stella."

Shinn narrowed his eyes at Athrun. "Because I know that you're going to fail," he said.

With that, he whirled back around and stalked down the corridor, turning around a corner and disappearing from sight.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

Shiho stared ruefully at the Savior's controls, her work on the operating system grinding to a halt as she was filled with a sudden distaste and depression. She thought back to why she could possibly be feeling this way.

"This is a terrible assignment, isn't it?" she asked at last. She glanced up at the open cockpit hatch, where Lunamaria was kneeling with a laptop, running diagnostics on the hardware. She looked up in surprise. "We're chasing a traitor," Shiho elaborated, "who's skilled enough to evade us and beat us back when we do catch up to him. He was one of our own, a comrade in arms, we all knew him for better or for worse, and now we have to track him down and kill him. And to do that, we've got five mobile suit pilots who can hardly get along." She sat back in frustration. "The drama is thick enough to cut with a knife."

"If we weren't chasing Shinn," Luna said quietly, "we'd be fighting that Destroy. And," she paused, "we'd probably be dead."

Shiho shrugged. "I suppose," she conceded. "I just wish we were all reassigned. We can't fight Shinn. We all know him, and that acquaintance is affecting us." She shook her head. "If it were anyone else, we would've captured him long ago."

Luna looked down at her laptop for a moment. "Shinn wouldn't let himself get caught," she said. Shiho sighed, conceding again. She looked up at the top of the Savior's cockpit. She was supposed to be the leader…but she felt far from it. She knew it was her duty to lead her team in hunting down and capturing Shinn, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Either he was always too skilled and always slipped away, or she just couldn't pull the trigger. She hesitated. She second-guessed. They all did.

Everyone except Rey, of course.

Shiho wondered what she could have done differently. She wondered what Yzak would have done— he ran a tight ship, to be sure. He would not have tolerated Shinn's first stunt in returning Stella to the Earth Alliance. Not that Shiho had either, but she had made the mistake of not paying enough attention to Shinn at Arzachel Crater. And before she could do anything about it, he had crippled Rey and Luna's ZAKUs and made his escape with the Gaia.

Yzak would never have let that happen.

"Was I not hard enough on Shinn?" she asked, staring up at the top of the Savior's cockpit.

"It wouldn't have mattered," Luna said quietly. Shiho looked at her, surprised. "Nobody will stop Shinn when he has his heart set on something."

Shiho looked back up absently and said nothing else.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battleship _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean

Emerging like a tornado onto the observation deck, Shinn stormed up to the railing, glowering out at the ocean. Immediately, he felt another presence behind him, but this one was not familiar. It was peaceful; tinged at the edges with sadness, but overwhelmingly calming and soothing. He immediately felt his anger begin to fade away, and, baffled at who could have a presence like this, he turned around.

Immediately, he found himself face to face with Lacus Clyne.

"Hello, Shinn Asuka," she said, smiling politely, extending her hand. Shinn looked down at it hesitantly and then back up at her. "Is something wrong?"

"You're Lacus Clyne," Shinn said guardedly. Lacus nodded, still smiling. "Have you come up here to yell at me too?"

"I'm not here to yell at you, Shinn," she said, her hand dropping, but her face still smiling. "I just wanted to meet you. Athrun has told me a great deal about you."

Shinn blinked at her. "Athrun?"

"He holds you in high regard as a mobile suit pilot," she continued, walking up to the railing next to him. "He says he's glad he doesn't have to fight against you."

"He likes me for my skills?" Shinn asked morosely, arching an eyebrow at her. Lacus shook her head.

"No, he likes you because you aren't using those skills to destroy and oppress," she answered. She paused. "Is something wrong, Shinn?"

Shinn looked away, glowering at the sea. "No," he said quickly.

Lacus looked back at the sea herself. Shinn glanced at her out of the corner of his eye; her calming aura quelled his anger further. He vaguely wondered if she was a Newtype.  
But then there was that hint of sadness. Where had it come from?

"Why are you sad?" Shinn asked suddenly. Lacus looked over at him blinkingly.

"What do you mean?" she asked; Shinn sensed a tiny flicker of nervousness, but he was determined to know. Her sadness would become his own; he couldn't afford for that to happen.

"I can feel it," he said. "Your sadness…it's like it's around the edges of…your heart."

Lacus stared at him in disbelief, masked well but not well enough. "You can _feel_ it?" she echoed. Shinn nodded dourly; she searched his face for a moment. "You are a Newtype," she concluded.

Shinn felt his blood run hot at just the mention of the word. Lacus looked down at the floor sullenly.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Shinn's anger vanished; he blinked in surprise at her.

"You're sorry?" he asked.

"It is a terrible burden," she continued. "To feel your pain with the pain of others, to feel the deaths of everyone around you and to be trapped in a war." She looked back up at him. "But you have been strong to endure it all so far."

"What does it matter?" Shinn asked. "No one else can possibly understand what this is like."

"No," Lacus agreed, "but they can try."

A metallic beep sounded through the air, and Lacus produced a small cell phone from inside her long coat. She put it back and looked back up at Shinn.

"I apologize," she said, "but the _Megami_ will be disconnecting from the _Kasselheim_ for battle preparations soon, so I will have to return." She extended her hand again. "But I am glad to have had the chance to talk to you, Shinn."

Shinn looked at her hand hesitantly again. She knew what he was, she knew his pain, she knew why he was suffering, but she didn't understand what it was like. She couldn't.

But she could try.

Shinn shook her hand. "You too," he said, with a weak smile.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	34. Phase 34: A Shadowed Alliance

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 34 - A Shadowed Alliance

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 21st, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

Technically, Aoma Vedlow wasn't supposed to be on the deck of the _Minerva_ in the early morning hours, watching the sunrise. But she doubted anyone would care at this point— between Shinn and Ruumari and their combined breaches of protocol, running the gamut from unauthorized launches to treason, standing around on the deck watching the sunrise was fairly innocuous.

She leaned against the railing and stared at the steadily rising sun, wondering how her life had come to this point. She was a soldier with honors, a ZAFT Red, piloting a Gundam of all things, on the flagship of ZAFT…and yet her best friend was sprinting headlong down the path to his own destruction, ZAFT was losing the war, and the flagship of ZAFT was on a miserable mission to track down a traitor who, it seemed, was undefeatable.

She wondered what her parents would think, back on Januarius 3. She and Ruumari had grown up together, gone through their training together, and now they had fought together, but Ruumari was spiraling out of control, and everything was going with it.

And the worst part, she supposed, was that she had specifically asked Ruumari to come here and talk to her. And yet he was nowhere to be found.

"He's probably still training with Rey," she said, staring at the sea in disappointment. "That'll be his downfall."

She looked out towards the patch of horizon that the _Minerva_ was sailing towards. Somewhere out there, she assumed, was the pirate ship with Shinn Asuka on board. He was waiting for them, but they weren't going to attack, at least not for a while. The pirate ship and the Orb Raiders were steaming headlong into a confrontation with the _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet of the United Emirates of Orb. Captain Gladys had no real interest in picking a fight with Orb or its finest fleet, and was content to let the pirates and their strange new bedfellows get into a mess themselves. Perhaps they could slip in during the chaos and pick off the traitor Asuka before anyone knew what was coming.

Aoma, however, found herself not caring. Shinn was going to destroy Ruumari; she knew it, and dreaded their next confrontation for it.

Suddenly that Destroy Gundam was looking a lot more inviting.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Pacific Ocean

The Impulse Gundam took off with a flash, and inside the cockpit, Shinn clenched his fists angrily around the controls. They were getting paid— that was the only reason they would even be bothering to launch this attack— but as he soared through the dawn skies towards the _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet, he could not help but feel as though he were in the wrong place at the wrong time. What business did he have attacking Orb? They weren't his enemy. Kira Yamato, the pilot of the Freedom, was his enemy.

"Shinn," he heard Chris's voice say harshly. He looked up, finding Chris's 105 Dagger, sporting a Jet Striker, drop into formation in front of him. "The Orb Raiders want you and Stella to go with them."

"We'll protect the ship," George added, as his CGUE drifted in next to the Impulse. "Don't worry about us."

"Roger," Shinn answered reluctantly. He glanced at the Gaia; Stella nodded to him, and the two mobile suits peeled off and angled towards the _Megami_'s mobile suit squadron. "What could they want with us…?" he murmured.

"Shinn," Athrun interrupted, as the Justice Gundam pulled in next to the Impulse. "We're going after the flagship. We want you to tag along."

"Who's 'we?'" Shinn asked, arching a dubious eyebrow.

"Just a few of us," Athrun said. "We're going to take down Jona Roma Seiran once and for all."

Shinn cast a skeptical glance at the fleet up ahead. "We have to _get_ to him first," he warned.

Athrun allowed himself a thin smile. "That's why we're bringing you."

Shinn bit back a curse. Of course that was why they were bringing him. He was a Newtype, after all.

"You'd better make sure you pay us," he snarled, cutting the transmission.

Up ahead, the _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet was showing no signs of slowing down, but they weren't changing course either. Shinn consulted his map and blinked in surprise, as their projected course pointed them towards the United Emirates of Orb. They were headed back home at breakneck speed. He glanced up at the fleet itself, watching as its mobile suits took off from the decks of the vessels. At the center of it all was the flagship, the _Takemikazuchi_, where Jona Roma Seiran was waiting.

Shinn narrowed his eyes at the whole spectacle.

There was a flash of reflected light; Shinn squinted angrily, shielding his eyes with his hand, as the Akatsuki shot forward, wielding a massive curved sword.

"Murasame units," Shinn heard the voice of Cagalli Yula Athha call out, "keep back and prevent the enemy mobile suits from reaching the _Megami_."

The Murasame units peeled off, hanging back in front of the _Megami_ and the _Kasselheim_. Shinn cast an angry glance at the Akatsuki, squeezing his eyes shut as it caught the light of the sun and reflected it all right back in his face. As the Akatsuki moved ahead, he glared after it. Cagalli had to be the center of attention— what kind of unit was painted bright gold? That thing was asking to get shot down.

The Orb warships began to open fire with ranging shots, as their mobile suits formed up. The artillery shells flashed by the Orb Raider mobile suits harmlessly. The Aegis Gundam moved up next to the Akatsuki.

"Split up and attack your assigned targets on my mark," a grizzled voice said. "Shinn, Stella, you two accompany Athrun and Cagalli to the _Takemikazuchi_. You've got a date with Jona and we'd hate for you to miss it."

Shinn scowled at the Aegis and cast a glare at the Justice. These damn Orb Raiders acted like they knew him or something.

The enemy Murasames up ahead opened fire; Shinn narrowed his eyes at them and deflected their shots with his shield. There was only one way through this, and with that thought, he armed the beam rifle and clenched his fist over the trigger.

"We're going to skim over the surface and try to slip in beneath their line of fire," Athrun said quickly. "Follow us."

The Justice and Akatsuki descended down towards the ocean surface; Shinn glanced at Stella and the Impulse and Gaia followed. Shinn glanced up above himself, as the Orb Raiders' Murasames opened fire on their enemy counterparts, and the Gundams punched their way through. He turned his attention to the fleet, rapidly approaching.

"They're not changing their course or their speed," Athrun noted grimly.

"And they're heading straight for Orb," Shinn added. "They're heading home as fast as possible."

"Something must have happened," Cagalli concluded. "But we're not going to let that stop us. We'll ask Jona himself if we have to."

Shinn snorted dismissively. Easy for _her_ to say.

A squadron of Murasames swept down behind the four charging Gundams. Athrun moved to attack them, but a bright yellow beam swept over them, annihilating all three before they could open fire. Overhead, the Buster Gundam held up three fingers with its left hand and took off. Up ahead, the ships turned their guns on the four charging Gundams, forcing them all to take cover behind their shields.

"We'll have to get by the rearguard to get to the flagship," Athrun grunted, as the Justice shook from a shell impact.

Shinn scowled. He would have to earn his pay somehow.

"We'll deal with that," he snapped. "Stella, come on."

The Impulse and Gaia took off with a roar. Behind them, inside the Akatsuki, Cagalli blinked.

"What's with him?" she asked, glancing suspiciously at Athrun.

"I don't know," Athrun admitted with a shrug. "Let's just hope he's in a better mood today."

Inside the Impulse, Shinn felt his anger vanish as he dove into his element. The first ship, a _Kuraokami_-class cruiser, came into his sights; Shinn narrowed his eyes, picking off the ship's main gun with a beam rifle shot. He charged in close, cutting down a swarm of missiles with a burst of CIWS fire, and lunged onto the _Kuraokami_'s deck, drawing a beam saber. The ship tried to turn its guns on the Impulse; an instant later, Shinn stabbed out the bridge with his saber and perforated the exposed interior with CIWS fire. The ship rumbled violently; Shinn leapt into the air, deflecting another wave of CIWS fire from another ship as the _Kuraokami_ exploded.

The next ship, an _Aegis_-class, turned its main gun on the Impulse. But before it could fire, its main gun went sailing into the water, and a moment later, the ship broke in two with a fiery blast. The Gaia lunged past in quadruped mode, landing on another _Kuraokami_ and crushing its weapons. Shinn swept in behind the Gaia, seeing a plan taking shape, and darted down towards the ship, ripping it open with his beam saber. As seawater gushed into the wounded cruiser, Shinn turned to follow the Gaia. It landed with a crunch on the deck of another _Aegis_ and tore the ship's side in two with its beam cannons. As the Gaia took off, Shinn rocketed down into the _Aegis_'s open hangar and drove his saber to the hilt into the ship's deck. As the ship began to explode, he took off again, towards another _Kuraokami_. Stella blew off the main gun with a well-placed beam cannon volley; Shinn somersaulted over the wounded ship, slashing it in two with his beam saber and striking the missile magazines. As the crippled warship exploded into the air, Shinn looked up towards the next array of ships. They were getting close to the _Takemikazuchi_.

A volley of beam blasts came down into the ocean next to him. The Gaia glanced up into the air as Shinn backed away behind his shield, and they both leapt aside as the fleet's Murasames returned with a devastating salvo of beam blasts. The Gaia transformed back into its mobile suit mode, smacking a pair of beam shots aside and returning fire with its beam rifle. Shinn dove along the surface of the water, switching back to his beam rifle, dodging beam blasts from a trio of Murasames overhead, and backflipped over another _Kuraokami_ cruiser, using it as cover and sniping one of the Murasames out of the air. The smoldering mobile suit plowed into the cruiser, blasting it apart, and Shinn backed away, firing back at the remaining two Murasames as they watched the cruiser sink in disbelief.

"Having fun without us, Shinn?" Athrun asked, as the Justice Gundam dropped in with a beam cannon volley, wiping out two more Murasames. The Justice stormed forward, slithering past a wave of missiles from another wing of Murasames and shooting them down before they could turn themselves around. Shinn narrowed his eyes, picking another Murasame out of the air.

Waves of missiles came slamming down into the Orb ships, and Shinn dove up into the air, rising above the smoke. He glanced behind himself, finding the Duel and Buster Gundams floating nearby, their missile launchers open. The Buster flamboyantly combined its guns and sank another _Kuraokami_, while the Duel picked off a wing of incoming Murasames.

"This is too easy," Shinn snorted. A Murasame came shrieking down towards him; he somersaulted over it and fired a beam shot into its back as it shot by.

A pair of red beam blasts streaked by, smashing another pair of Murasames, and the Akatsuki shot by in a blinding flash.

"We still have to get to the flagship!" Cagalli shouted. "Come on!"

Shinn cursed under his breath and leapt up into the air, the Justice and Gaia right behind. A desperate Murasame swept in behind the Akatsuki; as Cagalli wheeled around to face it, the Murasame opened fire. Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief—

…only to watch the beam bounce harmlessly against the Akatsuki's golden armor. Cagalli raised her rifle and picked the Murasame out of the air.

"What the hell was that?!" Shinn exclaimed.

"The Akatsuki's special feature," Athrun explained. "It has anti-beam armor, which is why it's bright gold."

Shinn scowled. It figured that they'd give Cagalli the mobile suit that nobody could shoot down.

Another Murasame slid in behind the Justice to open fire; a moment later, the Aegis Gundam, in mobile armor mode, slammed its arms around the Murasame and fired its Scylla cannon, wiping the Murasame out. Shinn ducked below a volley of missiles; behind him, the Aile Strike Gundam cut them down with a CIWS burst.

Shinn narrowed his eyes as the warships drew closer to the flagship, putting up a withering barrage to keep the enemy at bay. He scowled; there was only so much good they could do while floating there unable to move. He switched to his beam saber and charged ahead.

"Shinn!" Athrun exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"Opening a path!" Shinn shouted back.

Overhead, a Murasame was angling down towards him. Shinn narrowed his eyes; the seed burst before him, and he rocketed up into the air. With a crash, he landed on top of the Murasame, and angled himself down towards an _Aegis_. It tried to pull up; Shinn slammed the Impulse's feet down on it and fired the Force Silhouette's thrusters, latching onto the hapless mobile suit. The Murasame's comrades swept in to help; a wave of beam shots forced them back and sent several of them spiraling into the ocean, and the Orb Raider Gundams moved in, beam rifles blazing. Shinn nosed the Murasame up towards the _Aegis_'s open hangar and engaged the booster.

"Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Athrun shouted. Shinn ignored him, scowling, and at the last second, plunged his beam saber into the Murasame's body and leapt off, rocketing up into the air. The Murasame slammed into the _Aegis_'s hangar and exploded; a moment later, the _Aegis_ went with it, taking down several nearby ships.

"And there's our path," Shinn said flatly, as the scorched warships sank.

The Akatsuki landed with a crash on the deck of the _Takemikazuchi_, pointing its beam rifle at the bridge tower. Shinn landed nearby with the other Gundams, watching tensely as the Murasames circled overhead. With the enemy this close to their leader, they wouldn't dare attack— hopefully.

"Jona Roma Seiran!" Cagalli snapped, broadcasting her words to the _Takemikazuchi_ and whatever mobile suit and ship was nearby. "I know you're in there! Come out and surrender!"

The livid face of Jona Roma Seiran appeared on the monitor inside Shinn's Impulse.

"How _dare_ you," Jona snarled, "attacking your own people, in their own weapon, and claiming you're doing it for Orb's good! Especially at a time like this!"

"You have no business being out here in the first place!" Cagalli shouted back. "Orb has no business meddling in a war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT!"

Jona sneered. "Are you still spouting that line?" he asked, crossing his arms contemptuously. "Did no one tell you? The world has changed, and we must change with it." He uncrossed his arms and pointed vindictively at Cagalli. "Now get out of our way! We have more important things to worry about than some little rebel girl like you!"

"You what?" Cagalli asked.

"We are returning to Orb," Jona said, "to defend it from a ZAFT invasion!"

Cagalli's eyes widened in disbelief. "A…_ZAFT invasion?_"

"A ZAFT invasion," Jona snapped. "We do not have the time nor the inclination to play this little game. Our country is at stake. Will you really prevent us from defending the nation we are both fighting for in our own ways? Back down at once."

"ZAFT is going to invade Orb…?" Cagalli murmured.

"It makes sense," Athrun warned. "They're losing the war and they need to relieve pressure on their allies."

"What allies?" someone, Shinn recalled his name being Yzak, snorted dismissively. "The Muslim League's been ground into dust. They won't last another 24 hours."

"You're bluffing," Cagalli said, scowling back at Jona. Shinn blinked in surprise, noting that she wasn't nearly so confident in herself now. "ZAFT is on the retreat all over the world. They wouldn't waste so much energy trying to invade a country like Orb."

"Do you want to bet our country's life on that?" Jona asked venomously. "Go ahead, sink this ship, destroy this fleet. And then you can watch as Orb is powerless to defend itself from ZAFT!" He pointed angrily at Cagalli again. "ZAFT is going to attack in _five days_, you fool! Get off my ship and let us go back home, or else we'll both lose the country we're fighting for!"

The Akatsuki took a heavy step back. Cagalli glared angrily at Jona, trembling.

"All units, retreat," she said at last.

"What?" Athrun asked, the Justice taking an incredulous step forward.

"I said retreat!" Cagalli snapped. The Akatsuki leapt into the air and took off. Shinn looked in surprise, watching the golden mobile suit race towards the _Megami_.

"You heard her," Andy said loudly, the Aegis stepping towards the edge of the _Takemikazuchi_'s flight deck. "We're retreating!"

As the Gundams took off, Shinn glanced down below at the _Takemikazuchi_'s bridge tower, wondering if Jona was right.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_, Pacific Ocean

"Admiral," Todaka asked as the Orb Raiders' Gundams took off with a flash, "are you sure we should be letting them go like this?"

"What choice do we have?" Jona snarled back. "Order all mobile suits to return. Leave the _Takisatsu_ behind to collect survivors and bodies from the sunken ships. The rest of the fleet will set out for Orb at once." He turned to leave, growling furiously to himself. It was a golden opportunity— Cagalli had blundered right into his sights. If only he _had _been bluffing, he could have brought down the leaders of the Orb Raiders in one fell swoop.

Jona stalked furiously off the bridge. Todaka glanced across the sea at the _Megami_ as it collected its mobile suits, and found himself hoping that they could forge enough of an alliance to defend Orb. It was their country, after all.

He glanced at the door Jona had just stormed out of.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean

"So ZAFT is going to attack Orb," Mev said, sitting back and crossing his arms in the captain's chair. "An interesting new circumstance. ZAFT must be getting desperate— there's no reason to attack Orb out of all the other nations in the Alliance."

"If we didn't sign on to fight a civil war, we didn't sign on to join the war that's going on now," Viima said pointedly. "Captain, we can't afford to get sucked into this."

"I'm sure Miss Athha will be coming by to make a sales pitch," Mev went on. "We'll wait until she's poured her heart out for us to make a decision."

"Their debt to us will make the Atlantic Federation military jealous," Mike snorted.

"And they still have yet to give us an incentive to put our necks on the chopping block," Yun added. "It's not our problem if Orb goes up in smoke again. We don't fight wars."

"This is no ordinary war," Mev said authoritatively, silencing his crew. He glanced at Viima. "I expect Miss Athha will be coming by shortly to try to persuade us to join her in defending Orb. Inform me when she arrives." He glanced back at the _Megami_. "It seems destiny has other plans for us."

——————————————————————————————————————————

George cast a weary glance towards Shinn as he stood on the Impulse Gundam's boarding gantry, staring at the hangar walls as Miki's GINN High Maneuver II stomped by.

"What's wrong?" George asked cautiously. Shinn glanced at him indifferently.

"I'm getting sucked back into this war," he said, "that's what."

George came up next to Shinn, leaning against the railing. "It's arguable that you never left it," he said.

"What?" Shinn asked, glancing angrily at George.

"The _Minerva_ and that Alliance ship have been harassing us ever since we took you on," he said, "and we've still got your ZAFT friends following us."

Shinn looked back at the hangar wall angrily. "I know," he said. "But now we're going to get dragged into defending Orb." He scowled. "We're getting dragged into Orb's war."

George shrugged. "They've promised us quite a bit of money," he reasoned.

"And what good is that?" Shinn countered. "It's all well and good to _promise_ to pay us giant sums of money, but it doesn't mean anything until they actually pay us."

George smirked. "True," he admitted. "But we've been involved in all sorts of little conflicts before."

"This isn't a little conflict," Shinn said. "It's a war. A war that's going to get us all killed."

George arched an eyebrow. "Good to see you're keeping the faith."

Shinn clenched his fists. "I'm not going to let this ship be destroyed," he said, glowering at the hangar wall and curling his fingers around the gantry railing. "I finally have a home. I'm not going to let it get taken away."

George stood up to leave. "War has a way of doing that," he said. "The captain will make the choice he feels is best for us."

George headed back down the gantry. Shinn stayed behind, glowering. Kira and his Freedom Gundam and his little self-righteous war had taken away his last home. It would not happen again.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Pacific Ocean

"You're making progress, at least," Lee said, trying to be encouraging, as Sting and Auel gasped for breath in the chairs in front of his desk. "You're lasting longer and longer through the repetitions of your block words."

"It's taking so long," Auel muttered angrily.

"Nobody said it wouldn't," Lee countered. He checked his computer terminal. "It's getting harder to cook up fake data to keep your engineers unaware."

"We'll worry about that," Sting breathed. "You just keep doing what you've been doing. We're getting there."

Lee nodded soberly. He activated his monitor, sitting back in his chair as he flipped through news channels.

"ZAFT attempted to reinforce its Carpentaria base with forces from its Antarctic base today," an anchor announced emotionlessly, "but their reinforcements were beaten back by the Earth Alliance forces in the area. This marks the sixth day of the Earth Alliance's siege…"

"They're finished," Sting said quietly. Lee glanced at him. "ZAFT won't last much longer, will they?"

Lee looked back at the screen. "Not on Earth," he said. "In space it will be a different story. ZAFT has most of its strength in space. We'll have to see how far our momentum can carry us." He shut the monitor off. "What are you planning on doing once your block words are broken?"

Sting and Auel glanced at each other, and then back at Lee. He studied their faces for a moment and nodded.

"I see," he said.  
"We don't want to implicate you in anything," Sting began.

Lee arched an amused eyebrow. "Implicate me in what?" he asked with a small smile.

Auel smirked back. "Exactly."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean

Cagalli cast a suspicious glance across the bridge of the _Kasselheim_ at Shinn. He glared back, but neither said anything. Cagalli stepped forward, towards Mev, who sat in his chair, regarding Cagalli impassively.

"I had a feeling you would come over here to try to sway us," Mev said. He gestured for Cagalli to speak. She looked uncomfortable at being directed, and glanced back at Athrun, Mwu, and Andy. They nodded to her; Athrun cast a wary glance at Shinn.  
"ZAFT is going to attack Orb in five days," she said, "and we've inflicted a lot of damage on the _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet, which is going to be instrumental in defending Orb. We don't want to rely on the Earth Alliance for help, since there's no guarantee that they'll send any troops to help defend Orb. It's our country, and right now it faces a threat greater and more pressing than the Seirans. So we are setting course for Orb to help defend it from ZAFT."

"We figured that was what you were going to do, Miss Athha," Mev interrupted. "And we figured that you would come over here and try to persuade us to go with you." He paused. "If you don't mind, start persuading."

"You're pirates," she said. "Outlaws. You don't have a home. You just wander around on this ship. If you help us defend Orb and retake it from the Seirans, we'll give you a home."

"We already have one," Shinn spoke up. Athrun put a warning hand on Cagalli's shoulder before she could do anything. "Why should we put it in jeopardy for your civil war?"

Cagalli took a moment to calm herself. "In Orb you wouldn't have to protect anyone," she said.

Shinn snorted dismissively. "Nowhere in the world is there gonna be a place where I won't have to fight," he said. "Not unless Orb will somehow change the way people are."

"That's not what we're trying to do," Athrun said quickly. "We're just trying to create a place where there's another way."

"You don't seem to be speaking our language," Mev noted.

"There has to be a higher purpose you're fighting for than money!" Cagalli exclaimed, whirling around to face Mev.

"Higher purposes don't feed crews and repair engines," Mev countered. "We can't just go running to the Junk Guild to give us supplies and fix our ship. We have more worldly problems to take care of first."

Cagalli looked aside angrily. "We'll triple your pay," she growled.

"Our already tripled pay," Mev corrected. "But are you going to give in that easily?" Cagalli blinked and looked back up at Mev. "Pay us now and we will go with you."

"What?" Viima exclaimed, standing up. "Captain— "

"Enough," Mev cut her off. "Miss Athha, I demand our payment up front. We will not play this waiting game with our just desserts any longer. Provide our payment now and we will accompany you to Orb and assist you in the nation's defense." He extended a hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Cagalli looked at his hand hesitantly. She glanced back at Athrun; he nodded, and she slowly shook Mev's hand. "We do," she said.

Shinn watched in disbelief as the Orb Raiders shuffled off the bridge. Viima leapt to her feet once they had left.

"Captain!" she shouted. "We can't go fight a war with them! We're out of our league!"

"This was the only way to ensure that they would actually pay us and not just string us along with promises," Mev countered. He glanced pointedly at Shinn. "Besides," he added, "we've been part of the war for a while now."

Shinn scowled and stalked off the bridge.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Pacific Ocean

"Captain," the communications officer said, "we have a priority message from the _Minerva_."

"Patch it through," the captain of the _Deliverance_, Davis, said as he sat up in his seat. Above him, Rau Le Creuset leaned back, draping one leg over the other and gazing out the windows with an amused smile as the _Deliverance_ glided forward underwater.

"'We have ascertained the position of the pirate ship harboring Shinn Asuka and are relaying you their last known location, speed, and bearing,'" the communication officer read. The coordinates appeared on the screen over Rau's seat; his smile got a little wider.

"Lock those coordinates into the computer," he ordered. "Inform the hangar to prepare our machines. We'll be launching tomorrow morning."

"Yes sir," the captain answered, picking up his intercom.

Rau sat back, smiling.

_You've grown up since we last met, Shinn,_ he thought amusedly. _Time to see if you're the big bad Newtype that Gilbert thought you would be._

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	35. Phase 35: The Ultimate Coordinator

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 35 - The Ultimate Coordinator

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 22nd, CE 73 - ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Pacific Ocean

"All checks are complete," the mechanic said. "The catapults are being warmed up now." The hatch closed, and the cockpit went dark for a moment, before the cameras started up and lit the cockpit up with a panoramic view of the _Deliverance_'s hangar.

Kira Yamato, sitting in the cockpit of the Freedom Gundam, glanced to his right and opened a line to Valentine's Slash ZAKU Phantom, as it was loaded onto a Guul subflight system.

"Kira," she said, offering him a sweet smile, "I was afraid you'd forgotten about me."

Kira blinked. "I wouldn't do that," he answered. Valentine shook her head.

"Do you remember Shinn?" she asked, glancing at him. Kira nodded grimly. He remembered Shinn— how could he not? The famous ZAFT ace, the angry boy at Carpentaria, the great traitor to all Coordinators. The one dangerous loose piece in Rau's final plan for humanity. "Good," Valentine said, "because I'm sure he remembers you."

"He can't possibly be ready for me," Kira said flatly. "I've trained for weeks to bring him down. I won't fail."

"Of course you won't," Valentine said with a smile. The transmission ended; Kira sat back and let out a sigh.

In the ZAKU's cockpit, Valentine cast a devilish glance towards the Providence and opened up a line to Rau.

"Are you bothering me again?" he asked, faking weariness with an amused grin. "Don't you have better things to do?"

"Well excuse me for letting you know that our little boy is all set to go play with the other kids," Valentine shot back. Rau chuckled.

"Kira's never been ready to play with the other kids," he said.

"What, exactly, is our purpose in doing this?" Valentine asked testily. "We already have the _Minerva_ tailing Asuka."

"I want to gauge Shinn's strength," Rau said, sitting back and leaning his head against his fist. "If he's really the Newtype superman that Gilbert is afraid of, then he'll be able to beat Kira relatively easily, and then we'll know if he's worth worrying about."

Valentine arched an inquisitive eyebrow at him. "We're going to sacrifice Kira that easily?"

"Of course not," Rau chuckled. "Kira's not done with his penance yet. We won't let he die, nor will we let the Freedom be destroyed. But," he smiled, "they can afford to take a beating."

Valentine sat back, eyeing Rau carefully. "If you say so," she said at last, shutting the line off.

Rau chuckled again to himself as the Freedom moved onto the _Deliverance_'s catapult

"You've been the most powerful soldier alive for quite a while, Kira," he said. "But now it is time for you to finally fight a true Newtype." He leaned his head back as the _Deliverance_'s hangar doors opened, tilting his head back into the shadows as sunlight flooded the hangar. "And you'll finally see how inferior you are to us."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean

__

Somehow, before the enemy even entered visual range, Shinn knew who it was already. The pressure was different, unfamiliar…but unmistakable.

"It's him," he growled.

He sat back in the Impulse Gundam's cockpit, as the mobile suit streaked out of the _Kasselheim_'s hangar. He glanced to the side, at the _Megami_, as it opened its hangar doors. Athrun would surely be there to fight as well— Shinn clenched his fists around the Impulse's controls and fired the booster. He could not let Athrun steal his prey— he had to fight this enemy alone.

"Shinn!" a voice exclaimed. Shinn glanced back in annoyance at George, as his CGUE faded into the distance behind him. "What are you doing?!"

"Stay out of this," Shinn snapped. "I'll take care of this one."

"But Shinn— " George began.

Shinn scowled. "It's the Freedom," he said.

George fell silent, blinking in surprise. "The _Freedom?_" he asked. "From Jachin Due?"

Shinn cut the line and scowled up at the tiny shape on the horizon. That was his enemy. That was who he had to defeat. That was Kira Yamato. Shinn thought back to what Rey had said about Kira. He was the one who had killed his family— he was the one that Rey had begged Shinn to destroy.

He magnified the image— the Freedom Gundam was charging forward towards him resolutely.

Shinn clenched his teeth, glowering at the Freedom. He remembered that Onogoro slope in CE 71, standing before Mayu's severed arm, surrounded by the flames and smoke and what was left of his mother, his father, and Mayu.

"You…" he snarled.

The Freedom fired its beam rifle— Shinn narrowed his eyes at the approaching blast.

"_You_…"

The Impulse's eyes flashed; Shinn slammed on the brakes, and the Impulse stopped, the blast still approaching.

"_I finally found you!"_

The Impulse smacked the Freedom's shot aside and charged, returning fire with its beam rifle. Shinn screamed— the seed burst before his eyes, and he watched the Freedom skirt aside, leveling its beam rifle for another shot.

Before it could fire, Shinn darted up into the air and fired down on the Freedom from above. It dove aside again, deflecting a near miss with its shield, and fired back with a full burst from its rifle, plasma cannons, and railguns. Shinn scowled, ducking under the blasts and firing at the Freedom's exposed torso as he rocketed towards the water's surface.

The Freedom skirted aside again, firing another full burst and opening its wings, as Shinn pulled up and streaked along the water's surface.

"You killed them all," Shinn snarled.

Inside the Freedom's cockpit, Kira scowled. "Who is this guy…?"

"_I'll make you pay!"_ Shinn screamed.

The Impulse burst up over the Freedom's next volley of shots, switching to its beam saber and charging. Kira grunted angrily and drew his own saber, and the two machines slammed together in a shower of sparks.

"You took them away from me!" Shinn shrieked. "I won't let you get away again!"

The two machines roared apart again— Kira lined up for another full burst, but before he could, the Impulse was back upon him, rocketing up in between the extended cannons to slam its saber against the Freedom's.

"What _is_ he?" Kira growled. "It's like he knows what I'm going to do!"

Shinn screamed as the Impulse delivered a jarring kick to the Freedom's stomach— Kira grunted and fired off his plasma cannons and railguns into the air, forcing the Impulse back. Shinn growled angrily as he dove down towards the ocean— the Freedom had the advantage at long range. But at close range…

"Shinn!" a familiar voice shouted. Shinn ignored it, roaring back up into the Freedom's face and swinging down towards its exposed shoulder. The Freedom deflected the saber with its shield and swung back— Shinn's eyes flashed as he caught the Freedom's blow with his own saber, and the two Gundams were stuck pushing against each other.

"Shinn!" the voice shouted again. Shinn scowled and risked a glance at its source, seeing the Justice Gundam rushing towards him. "I'll handle— "

"No you won't!" Shinn snapped, cutting Athrun off. "He's _MINE!_" The Impulse surged forward, pulling its saber back for a killing blow.

"Commander!" Kira shouted, pulling back and dodging the Impulse's wild swings. "The Justice— !"

"Ignore it," Rau ordered. The Providence Gundam roared over the battlefield, firing a beam cannon volley in the Justice Gundam's direction and forcing it back. "We will handle the other mobile suits. Your priority is the Impulse."

Kira ground his teeth angrily. "Yes sir," he growled.

"We'll only keep them busy, Kira," Valentine added, as the Guul carrying her ZAKU shot by overhead. "You'll still get to take him down."

The Impulse dove up into the Freedom's field of vision, saber pulled back to strike again. Kira charged back, scowling.

"You can't be that powerful," he growled. "You can't!"

The Freedom came down with a slash— Shinn screamed and slashed back, and the two mobile suits slammed together again.

"You've taken everything else from me," Shinn snarled, fists trembling around the Impulse's controls. "_I won't let you take anything more!_"

The Impulse surged again; Kira grunted in surprise as the Freedom went reeling back. Shinn brought his saber down with a scream; the Freedom swung back, catching the blow.

"Damn you!" Shinn shrieked. "_DIE ALREADY!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

"They've _what_?"

Talia turned her angry gaze from Meyrin to the _Minerva_'s bridge windows, and the tiny flashes of explosions on the horizon.

"The _Deliverance_ reports combat," Meyrin repeated meekly, "and they say they don't need assistance."

Talia glared at the horizon, at the _Deliverance_ far beyond it. "Damn you, Rau," she growled. "What are you up to?"

"They've sent the Freedom after the Impulse," Meyrin added.

"The Freedom?" Arthur echoed in disbelief. "Captain, they— "

"They're a FAITH unit too," Talia explained, "so they can attack whenever and wherever they wish." She scowled. "Still, I wish Rau had consulted me before doing this." She glanced at Meyrin. "Go to Condition Red. We're going forward at flank speed to reach the combat zone. Tell the pilots to stand by."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean

"Captain, there's a heat source approaching from the southeast!" Mike exclaimed. "It's the _Minerva!_"

Mev sat back in his seat, looking up at the main screen as it displayed the battle in front of him.

"We've got fifteen minutes until the _Minerva_ is in range to fire on us," Murrue Ramius's voice warned from a smaller screen to the side. "And these FAITH units we're fighting aren't ordinary ZAFT grunts."

"They've never sent ordinary grunts after Shinn," Mev said dismissively. "What's the Impulse's status?"

"Still fighting a single unit," Kika reported. "But I can't figure out what unit it is."

"It's the Freedom."

All eyes turned up to the screen next to Murrue's, displaying George's dour face.

"The _Freedom?_" Kika echoed. "What is he fighting _that_ thing for?"

"He's still lasting against it," Mike said. "I've got two mobile suits to port in a pretty heated duel."

The main screen abruptly changed, to show the Impulse charging down onto the Freedom, saber upraised. The Freedom swung its own saber up to block the Impulse's killing blow at the last second.

"Shinn…" Kika murmured.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Freedom and Impulse crashed together, beam sabers locked, as sparks flew around the two straining machines.

"This guy's just a Coordinator," Kira grunted. "He can't be that powerful!"

Shinn let out a scream; the Impulse lunged back, dodging a horizontal saber swipe from the Freedom, cursing as the flailing beam managed to tear a wicked scar across the Impulse's chest. Kira narrowed his eyes and fired a full burst at the Impulse; Shinn rocketed up over the Freedom's shots and charged back down into its face with another beam saber slash.

"You bastard!" Shinn screamed. "_Hold still!_"

The Freedom rocketed backward, firing another full burst. Shinn snarled angrily as he dove aside, letting the shots streak past.

"You can't beat me in that thing!" Kira growled.

The Freedom swept in, saber raised; Shinn narrowed his eyes, swinging back and catching the Freedom's blow overhead. The two mobile suits rocketed apart again, circling each other. The Impulse charged; the Freedom charged back.

Shinn's eyes flashed; a white bolt of energy pierced the air in front of him. Kira blinked in surprise as the Impulse screeched to a halt, and with a crash, the Impulse delivered a devastating roundhouse kick to the Freedom's face. Kira screamed as the Freedom reeled back, and swung forward blindly with his saber. Shinn let out a shriek of rage, ducking aside from the Freedom's desperate saber swing—

Kira's eyes widened in disbelief as the Impulse severed the Freedom's right arm at the elbow. A second kick to the stomach sent the Freedom reeling back again; Shinn narrowed his eyes, charging after the falling Freedom.

Kira grunted angrily and moved to abandon his shield and draw the Freedom's remaining saber. A noise from one of the cockpit panels stopped him.

"Kira!" he heard Valentine's voice shout. "Return to the _Deliverance!_"

"What?" Kira exclaimed. "But— "

"It's an order!" Valentine snapped.

Kira looked back up angrily at the charging Impulse and raised the Freedom's left hand. The armor over the knuckle opened up; inside the Impulse, Shinn blinked in surprise. A moment later, he squeezed his eyes shut and slammed on the brakes, just as the Freedom launched an array of attack flares into the Impulse's face.

Kira scowled as he wheeled the Freedom around and took off towards the _Deliverance_.

Inside the Impulse, Shinn took cover behind his shield, backing away from the flares and glowering at the dim shape of the Freedom as it escaped.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Pacific Ocean

The bridge was silent as all eyes watched the ZAFT mobile suits retreat. Murrue sat back, watching the dim shape of the Freedom Gundam retreat into the distance, behind the blazing inferno of a half-dozen ZAFT attack flares.

"Their target was Shinn," she said. "They could've cared less about us. They were just keeping us out of their duel."

At the helm, Neumann sank into his seat. "But they already had the _Minerva_ chasing him," he said, "so why would they send Kira?"

"Because," someone said, "Commander Le Creuset is up to something."

Lacus Clyne stepped onto the bridge, taking the seat behind Murrue's captain's chair.

"What makes you say that?" Murrue asked, glancing skeptically at Lacus.

"Kira is serving Commander Le Creuset," Lacus said. Murrue frowned as she watched Lacus' eyes glimmer almost imperceptibly with well-masked sadness. "He wanted to see how strong Shinn is, so he used his own troops to hold ours back and let Shinn and Kira battle alone. Now he has an idea of how powerful Shinn is, using Kira as his yardstick."

Murrue looked back at the battlefield, as the ZAFT units vanished into the distance. The Orb Raiders and Mad Typhoon mobile suits were beginning to return as well. It made sense, but it also put them in a most dangerous position. So far, the _Deliverance_ had fought far from Orb and far from the Orb Raiders, but now there was no avoiding that Kira was their enemy.

Murrue risked a glance at Lacus again. If she was upset, she was doing a good job of hiding it.

But, she reflected grimly, she always did.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean

Right away, Shinn was reluctant to meet Kika's gaze as he stepped out of the Impulse Gundam's cockpit. But he had no choice; the mess of emotion swirling around her was too great to ignore. He looked up at her, his helmet in hand, as he opened the collar of his flight suit.

"So that was him, huh?" she asked, leaning against the railing, staring sadly at him. "The one who killed your family?"

Shinn looked away, nodding grimly. Kika was silent a moment.

"I'm going to take him down," Shinn added. He glanced back at Kika; she was staring at him in surprise. "I have to."

"Why?" Kika asked, arching an eyebrow.

"He's the one who killed my family," Shinn said, clenching his fists. "He took everything away from me." He looked back at her. "And now I finally have something to fight for again. I won't let him take that away too."

Kika paused for a moment. "What makes you think he's going to take everything away from you?"

Shinn shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I've beat him once. I can do it again."

Kika watched Shinn skeptically as he turned and stalked down the gantry.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 23rd, CE 73 - ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Pacific Ocean

"He is indeed powerful," Rau said, sitting back in his office, staring at the lone ice cube floating in his glass of bourbon. "Given a hard enough push, he could tear Kira apart."

"You don't think you can take him over like we did to Kira?" Valentine asked, sitting across from Rau, pausing to finish off the rest of her own drink. "He already ran away from Dullindal. He's not going to be in the mood to accept another all-knowing father figure."

"Do I look like Dullindal to you?" Rau asked amusedly, glancing up at her. "Anyway, no, I'm not going to try to get Shinn on our side. Dullindal has ensured that _that_ won't be an option." He sat back. "Besides, Kira is still too valuable to sacrifice so easily." Rau smiled. "He can always protect something."

"Then what are we going to do about Shinn?" Valentine asked, staring squarely at Rau. "He's better than Kira. He's a threat."

"He's not _that_ much better," Rau answered. "As he is now, armed with only the Impulse, Shinn isn't a threat that can't be dealt with. If he gets his hands on the Destiny, that's when we have cause for concern."

"Why is that?" Valentine ventured, narrowing her eyes. Rau chuckled, pausing for a sip of bourbon.

"The Destiny is built around him and his combat data from while he was still with ZAFT," Rau said, sitting back and smiling wistfully. "It's a Newtype machine. It's built to use his powers to create a blindingly-fast machine that can take on hundreds of enemies at once, and use its speed to deliver just enough firepower to overcome all odds." He chuckled. "It's like if Shinn himself was a Gundam."

"It doesn't mean anything if he can't get it," Valentine said.

"Even if Shinn does get a hold of the Destiny," Rau went on, "it's not like he's the greatest threat there is to our little Kira." He tapped the side of his glass, sending ripples over the surface of its contents and shaking the shrinking ice cube about. "His old friends always have the potential of convincing him to return under their wings."

"Then we'll have to do something about them," Valentine said flatly. "We can't afford to have enemies in Shinn and Kira."

Rau eyed Valentine amusedly for a moment. "Of course," he agreed.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Onogoro Island, United Emirates of Orb

Jona Roma Seiran stood at the head of the command center of Onogoro Island's sprawling military facilities, arms crossed, watching dourly as the mechanics scrambled to repair the _Takemikazuchi_, the fleet's surviving ships, and their mobile suits, all while frantically setting up defenses for the country. ZAFT was making no bones about its invasion— they had committed the bulk of their remaining Earthbound military forces to this assault, clearly designed to attract attention away from its allies. The Muslim League had at last collapsed under the combined force of the Destroy Gundam and the Earth Alliance's invading armies, but that wasn't stopping ZAFT. Carpentaria couldn't possibly survive the Alliance's siege much longer, but if they pulled this off, ZAFT could ease the pain of losing Carpentaria and set the Alliance back.

Jona, however, was not about to let Orb become the springboard for ZAFT's resurgence on Earth.

He turned in annoyance at the sound of footsteps, and found Unato approaching angrily.

"What are you doing here?" Unato demanded. "We're in the middle of war preparations and all you're doing is— "

"Relax," Jona interrupted testily. "We will not be burned down so easily again."

"ZAFT is coming with most of their military force, Jona," Unato snapped. "They are bringing down the hammer and we cannot allow ourselves to rely on the Earth Alliance for help in defending ourselves." He scowled at the _Takemikazuchi_ as the mechanics hurried to repair it. "And to think our grand _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet was so ravaged by a single machine— "

"That 'single machine,'" Joan growled, "was the Impulse Gundam, father."

Unato scowled. "I don't care what it was," he shot back. "It's only one mobile suit and it cost us dearly. We have an invasion to fend off, and we cannot rely on technological superiority against ZAFT."

"I am fully aware of the situation, father," Jona said through gritted teeth. "I will not allow Orb to be destroyed again, nor shall I allow the Atlantic Federation to sweep in and control us again. Rest assured that you shall never again see Orb bowing to the control of another nation."

Unato snorted in disgust and stormed away. Jona glowered down at the fleet.

_During an invasion,_ he thought, _many things happen…so much chaos, no one can keep track of anything, and so many people die._

He glanced at the retreating back of his father and smirked.

——————————————————————————————————————————  
**December 24th, CE 73 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Pacific Ocean**

"I guess this is another Christmas we won't be able to enjoy," Cagalli said quietly, leaning against the railing of the _Megami_'s deck. She glanced at Athrun Zala, standing next to her. "But we'll have a chance to take back Orb during the invasion."

"I hope so," he agreed. "We can't keep fighting forever."

Cagalli looked out across the ocean, towards Orb.

"Are they coming?" she asked, nodding towards the _Kasselheim_. Athrun glanced at the ship and shrugged.

"They said they would," he said. "And I'm sure Kira will be there…so Shinn will probably be there too, to finish their fight."

"I hope he at least leaves Kira alive," Cagalli said. "So that we don't have to bury him."

Athrun looked down at the water. "I think the Kira we knew has been dead for a long time," he said quietly.

Cagalli looked at him, and then back at Orb. "I guess," she agreed. She was silent a moment, glancing at Athrun out of the corner of her eye. "Athrun," she spoke up, catching his attention. "Um…when this is all over…I mean, when we retake Orb and all…" She looked away, back towards her country. "Would you…stay with me?"

Athrun blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"…to help me," Cagalli said. She paused. "I can't do it alone."

Athrun smiled. "Of course I will," he said, looking out at Orb. "I figured that went without saying."

"I just wanted to make sure," Cagalli said awkwardly, looking back at Athrun out of the corner of her eye.

"We've come this far together," Athrun said. "And I'll be by your side the whole way through."

Cagalli looked back at the ocean, blushing. "Thank you," she whispered.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Yokosuka Naval Station, Japan, Republic of East Asia

Three gleaming new mobile suits stood in the Japanese sun at the Yokosuka Naval Station. Standing on the deck of the _Girty Lue_, watching Neo admire them from afar, Lee had to admit that they were fine machines.

The GAT-X107 Calypso Gundam was the first to move, raised by a crane into the cavernous hangar bay of the _Spengler_-class carrier _William McKinley_. The Calypso had torso and shoulder armor reminiscent of the Blitz Gundam, legs and arms like the Strike's, and a pair of green hyper impulse cannons slung underneath a pair of folding red and black wings.

"It's a shame we won't see them in action at Orb," Neo commented.

Lee looked with dutiful puzzlement at him. "We're not?" he asked.

"High Command is holding them in reserve," Neo said. "Instead we get treated to front-row seats for the Destroy Gundam."

To punctuate the moment, there was a deep and ominous rumbling. Lee looked to the side, towards the _Girty Lue_'s prow, finding the hulking monster of the Destroy Gundam setting down on a massive helipad.

"Our fleet is well-equipped," Lee commented, trying to hide his disbelief at finally laying on eyes on the monster that had destroyed a nation. He looked back towards the _William McKinley_, finding them loading the GAT-X135 Judicator Gundam, an evolution of the Buster Gundam that looked overloaded with rotating beam cannons, railguns, and a chest beam cannon taken from the Abyss Gundam.

"Indeed it is," Neo agreed, smirking. "Jona is going to owe us big for this."

"I would bet that's what he's trying to avoid," Lee said, looking back towards the Destroy. It towered over everything, glowering down with shimmering green eyes. He looked back at the new Gundams. "If those things aren't going to be deployed at Orb, where will they be sent?" he asked.

"Antarctica," Neo answered. "Our battle plan is to put the ZAFT invasion force on the run and chase them to Antarctica. Other fleets will join us along the way and we'll all come crashing down on them at Antarctica."

Lee nodded; a sound plan, he supposed, if they could indeed crush ZAFT at Orb like they were hoping. He looked back at the _William McKinley_, at the last new model— the GAT-X201 Mustang Gundam, a machine that sported a commander's crest reminiscent of ZAFT's GINN, sporting a pair of Schwert Gewehr anti-ship swords on its back, beam boomerangs on its shoulders, and a Scylla cannon on its head. He glanced at Neo, remembering that this new Gundam project had involved four machines— but there were only three here.

"We'll go into action at Orb in an auxiliary role," Neo said. "We'll just join the defense. You stay put— the Windams will defend the ship. I'm taking the Chaos and the Abyss on a little errand."

Lee looked suspiciously at Neo. "Yes sir," he answered.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 25th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Pacific Ocean

"Our ETA at the rendezvous point for the Fourth Combined Assault Force is one hours," Meyrin announced, as the _Minerva_ glided over the water. Far ahead in the distance, tiny specks could be seen on the horizon— the bulk of ZAFT's _Vosgulov_-class submarine fleet was here, along with the land battleships that had survived ZAFT's failed invasion attempts all over the world. There was a _Petrie_-class cutting across the ocean's surface up ahead. The face of a grizzled ZAFT Black Shirt appeared on the _Minerva_'s main monitor.

"Captain Gladys," the _Petrie_ captain said. "I'm Captain Carter, commander of the _Maslow_. Good to see a familiar face."

"You look well, Captain Carter," Talia answered with a smile. "I suppose you have some bureaucratic duties to fulfill first?"

"Afraid so," Carter answered. He gestured to someone off-screen. "Ship name, captain, clearance code, and we'll give you the rundown of our plan."

"LHM-BB01 _Minerva_, Captain Talia Gladys, clearance code Delta seven ten," Talia answered. Carter consulted a screen to his right and blinked in surprise.

"You're in FAITH now?" he asked. Talia shrugged. "Well, I guess giving you orders is kind of pointless, then."

"We're here to bolster the Fourth Combined Assault Force," Talia answered. "The brass know better than to play political games when the stakes are this high. We'll join a unit with an opening if need be."

Carter nodded and gestured to a subordinate. "The commanding officer will figure out what to do with you. We'll escort you in."

Talia sat back, crossing one leg over the other. "How have things been going here? The Fourth's been gathering here for the better part of a week, if I recall."

"It's a mess," Carter sighed, sinking into his chair, looking thoroughly beleaguered. "We got assigned to run perimeter patrols, and this is after getting back with our lives from that fiasco at the Cape of Good Hope. They just patched us up at Antarctica and shipped us back out in three days."

"We're all having to make do with less," Talia said. "Is there a _Kaskirov_-class around here to give us a resupply?"

"The commander is sending the _Faraday_ to take care of that," Carter answered. He let out a quiet sigh. "Take care of yourself, captain. It's going to be ugly out there tomorrow."

The line went out. Talia looked up ahead, at the gathering ZAFT fleet, and sighed.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Ruumari stood on the _Minerva_'s deck, staring out at Orb, wondering if _he_ would be there.

Of course, there was no reason why he would be. But the _Kasselheim_ had been tracked with the Orb Raiders, heading straight for Orb. He would have to be there. Finally he would get another chance to fight.

The door behind him opened; he glanced in surprise at Aoma as she stepped out onto the deck.

"There you are," she said. "What are you doing out here?"

Ruumari said nothing, looking back at Orb.

Aoma came up next to him, glancing at him. "If you're going to go after the Impulse— "

"Don't try to talk me out of it," Ruumari snapped. "I've trained for weeks to kill that guy. I'm finally going to do it."

"He's beaten us all before," Aoma insisted. "At least stick to the plan. There's no reason for you to go and do something stupid."

Ruumari clenched his fists angrily around the railing. "I finally have a chance to prove myself," he growled. "I wear this uniform for a reason. I pilot my Impulse unit for a reason. I am a ZAFT Red for a reason. And during Operation _Fury_, you will all see that reason."

Aoma looked back at Orb sadly. "It doesn't mean anything if you get yourself killed," she said. "Just let me fight alongside you, alright?" She looked back at him. "That's how we've always done it. We'll fight the Impulse together."

Ruumari glanced at her; she stared in surprise at the coldness in his eyes.

"That's how we used to do it," Ruumari said. "I'll ask for your help if I need it." He looked back at Orb, his eyes darkening. "But one way or another, I will destroy him."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Office of the PLANT Supreme Chairman, PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5

"The plan is to focus our firepower on Onogoro Island," Horatio Vandemant said, standing before Gilbert Dullindal's desk and gesturing to the main screen behind him. Gilbert sat back in his seat, staring dourly at the screen. "Onogoro is Orb's primary military installation and the center of their command structure. If we destroy it, the Orb military will be headless and easily divided and destroyed." The screen shifted. "Our three primary targets are the Kaguya mass driver facility, the Orb National Defense Headquarters, and the Morgenroete facilities."

"I've heard far too much for my liking about Earth Alliance moves around the area," Gilbert said, casting a narrow glance at Horatio. "What about that?"

"Our reports indicate that the only Alliance forces nearby are the forces laying siege to Carpentaria," Horatio answered, looking confident. "The Alliance forces involved in conquering the Oceania Union are too busy quelling regional resistance to respond, and it is unlikely that the Alliance would abandon its siege of Carpentaria to rescue Orb."

Gilbert glanced to the side thoughtfully. Would the Alliance so easily sacrifice Orb? They had proven that they were capable of making technological leaps and bounds without Orb's help— they still couldn't match that damned Windam, although hopefully the cutting-edge new DOM Trooper would be able to make a difference. It was too late to deploy them to the Orb invasion, but Carpentaria had rolled out a squad, and they were gearing up to break through the Alliance blockade.

Which, of course, was imperative— the Infinite Justice, Strike Freedom, Destiny, and Legend were being kept at Carpentaria, and had to be removed and shipped to Antarctica, for transport back to the PLANTs. The Alliance could not be allowed to get its hands on those four machines. Hopefully the DOM Troopers would be able to break open the Alliance lines long enough to get a transport with those four machines aboard through to Antarctica.

The Muslim League had finally imploded three days ago. The Oceania Union had fallen almost two weeks ago. The United States of South America, the Kingdom of Scandinavia, and the African Community had collapsed long ago. Everywhere, ZAFT had been thrown back, and now they were in danger of losing Carpentaria. After that, only Antarctica remained.

ZAFT _had_ to win at Orb, or else it would have all been for naught.

"Mr. Chairman?" Horatio asked. Gilbert looked up at him testily.

"How is Solomon's Sword coming?" he asked. Horatio checked his clipboard for a moment.

"It is still fifteen days away from completion," he reported. "All reports indicate that construction is proceeding smoothly."

"Have them hurry up," Gilbert said. "We do not have the luxury of waiting any longer."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	36. Phase 36: Blood in the Water

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 36 - Blood in the Water

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 26th, CE 73 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near Onogoro Island, United Emirates of Orb

"Attention all units," the booming voice of the ZAFT commander roared out, as ZAFT's fleet of _Vosgulov_ submarines and land battleships crawled forward, guns aimed steadily at Onogoro Island. "Operation _Fury_ will now commence. All units are to proceed towards your assigned targets and attack at will. Commence bombardment!"

A swarm of missiles lifted off from the ships, as the land battleships opened fire with their guns. On the _Minerva_, Talia sat back as the bridge locked itself into its lowered position.

"All mobile suits, prepare to take off," she called out. "Arthur, aim the Tristans and Isolde at our first target."

"Yes ma'am!" Arthur answered. "Target is now the Onogoro port's fuel stores."

Talia looked up ahead at Onogoro Island's naval yards, teeming with mobile suits and surrounded by warships. The missiles were coming down on Onogoro now— the Orb guns opened fire, but could hardly expect to stop them all in time.

"All mobile suits," Talia said, "take off!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Athrun grunted as the Justice Gundam shook. He glanced angrily at the BABI sweeping in behind him, firing its machineguns— with a growl, Athrun somersaulted forward, firing his beam rifle and taking the BABI down in a single blast. He turned back towards the Akatsuki as it streaked down towards the Orb National Defense Headquarters.

"We've probably going to have to fight our way through," Athrun warned. "We're still enemies to the Seirans."

"They can't be stupid enough to fire on the enemy of their enemy," Cagalli snorted.

A beam rifle shot speared an incoming DINN from above, blowing it apart, and the Aegis Gundam dropped in with another rifle shot to ward off an approaching BABI.

"Don't count on that," Andy said as the Aegis leveled off next to the Akatsuki. "Human stupidity is a powerful force."

Another wave of beam fire cut down another squad of ZAFT mobile suits, and the Strike, Duel, and Buster dropped in from above, forming up around the Akatsuki.

"It's going to take all six of us to get in there," Mwu added grimly, deflecting an errant beam shot with his shield. "Especially considering the last time you tried to get in there."

"Jona is probably on the _Takemikazuchi_," Cagalli growled.

"We can deal with him later," Andy said quickly. "Protecting Orb is more important than finding Jona."

"What about Shinn and Stella?" Athrun asked, glancing anxiously at the Aegis. "Where are they?"

"Captain Ramius asked them to go play with the _Minerva_," Andy answered, smirking. "They'll be making their own fun."

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Shinn Asuka," Rey Za Burrel growled, as his Guul-equipped Blaze ZAKU Phantom streaked up towards the Impulse Gundam, "today you shall finally die!"

Shinn growled angrily at the familiar pressure from Rey and glanced at the Gaia Gundam. "Stella, you take the left. I'll hit them from the right."

"Understood," Stella answered, her voice mechanically calm. The Impulse and Gaia rocketed apart, opening fire with their beam rifles simultaneously— Rey slammed on his brakes, jetting backwards and letting the shots streak past.

"We'll go after the Gaia first!" Shiho's voice shouted. The Savior rocketed overhead, transforming into mobile suit mode and showering the Impulse with beam fire. "Form up for the Spearhead maneuver!"

Inside the Impulse, Shinn blinked in surprise as he felt a familiar sensation of danger prick his senses. He saw the two ZAKUs, the two Impulses, and the Savior line up to attack the Gaia— he felt his pulse quicken as he moved to open fire.

"Stella!" he screamed.

Stella narrowed her eyes as the mobile suits approached. A seed burst in her mind— she rocketed upwards to avoid their first volley, firing back with her beam rifle as they wheeled around for another pass. They lined up again in a straight line, overlapping just far enough to allow them all equal firepower as they swung around to attack again.

The Impulse flashed back into the fight, Shinn screaming, and rammed Rey's ZAKU with its shield. Rey growled as the formation broke off.

"No more of these stupid plans!" Ruumari shouted. "I'll finish him off here!" The Blast Impulse lined up for a killing shot to the Impulse's back with its beam rifle. He blinked and glanced to his left, just in time for the Gaia to shoulder it aside, sending its shot sailing wide of its target. With a finishing kick to the side, the Gaia sent the Blast Impulse reeling towards the ocean, and then jetted backwards to avoid a rifle shot from the Sword Impulse.

Inside the Force Impulse, Shinn screamed as he kicked Rey's ZAKU in the stomach, forcing back. Rey snarled furiously, unleashing a storm of missiles from the Guul and his Blaze Wizard— Shinn grunted in surprise, slamming on the brakes, jetting backwards, and firing a defensive salvo of CIWS fire to wipe out the missiles before they could impact. Rey burst through the smoke, wielding a beam tomahawk, and brought it down with a crash on the Impulse's shield.

"Shinn!" Rey shouted.

Shinn's eyes flashed. He surged forward, knocking Rey's ZAKU back, and fired a shot through its Guul, wiping the subflight system out with a thunderous blast. And with a final roar of engines, he lunged back up into the ZAKU's face and sent it spiraling back towards the ground with a devastating kick.

Before he could pursue, his senses flared to life again— the Impulse leapt back, just in time to dodge a volley of plasma cannon shots, and the Savior shot past in mobile armor mode. It transformed in midair, rocketing up over Shinn's beam rifle blasts, and came back down with a second volley that Shinn barely avoided. He backed away as the Savior leveled its rifle off at the Impulse.

"We've been following you and fighting you for too long, Shinn," Shiho said dourly. "It's time to end this."

The Savior switched to its beam saber and charged.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_, Onogoro Island

The _Takemikazuchi_ shook as another missile slammed into its flight deck. Jona growled angrily as the ship's anti-aircraft guns finally blazed to life to take down the next volley of missiles.

"What the hell is going on with the first line?" he demanded. "They should not be able to attack us this early!"

"ZAFT's amphibious units are tearing us apart, sir!" one of the bridge crew answered. "Their forces are too overwhelming!"

"Dammit," Jona growled. "We will not allow ZAFT to beat us! Fight to the last man if you have to, but throw those bastards out of our waters!"

"Admiral," Todaka spoke up warily, as the _Takemikazuchi_ shook again. "We need to rethink our strategy. We cannot win this battle by numbers alone."

A storm of missiles smashed into a _Kuraokami_-class cruiser near the _Takemikazuchi_, splintering the beleaguered ship under a chain of explosions and pounding it under the ocean's surface. Jona scowled.

"Mobile suits approaching!" one of the bridge crew cried. Up ahead, a wing of ZAFT BABIs came streaking down towards the _Takemikazuchi_.

"The Murasames!" Jona shouted.

"It's too late!" Todaka cut him off.

A wave of beam fire ripped through the ZAFT ranks, tearing the BABIs apart. Jona watched in disbelief as a squadron of Windams shrieked by overhead. He glanced over the island, eyes wide, and found himself staring at the vanguard of an Earth Alliance fleet.

"Admiral Seiran," a deep, gravelly voice began. Jona looked back at the screen, stunned, to find a stout old man in an Earth Alliance uniform, his face almost obscured by a bushy gray beard, standing before him on the main screen. "Grand Admiral James MacIntyre. We are here to help you beat ZAFT back." He paused. "And," something on his end made a terrifying crashing sound, "we have brought a gift."

"Look at that thing!" one of the _Takemikazuchi_'s bridge crew shouted. Jona looked back at the Alliance fleet, and his eyes widened in disbelief as the Destroy Gundam rose out of the depths of a massive battleship.

"ZAFT will make no further progress here," MacIntyre intoned. "All units, open fire!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"The Alliance is here?" Cagalli exclaimed in disbelief. She glanced over her shoulder— sure enough, an array of Windams and Dagger Ls were streaming onto the battlefield, and the Alliance's warships were slicing into the side of the unsuspecting ZAFT fleet. And with a thunderous crash, the Destroy Gundam set down on a small unmarked island, flashed its eyes ominously, and unleashed a beam cannon barrage that sent an entire squadron of ZAFT BABIs and DINNs spiraling into the water in flames.

"All the more reason to get this over with quickly!" Andy shouted. "Before _they_ start edging into power here too!"

The main entrance to the National Defense Headquarters was blocked by a burnt-out M1 Astray, slumped against the smashed front of the building and staring up lifelessly into the sky, impaled on a CGUE's sword. The Gundams circled around to the back of the building and set down towards the rear, at the base of a short cliff that had been blasted apart, revealing the Defense Headquarters' complicated underground warren of access tunnels.

"We can get in through here!" Mwu exclaimed. "Andy, get some Murasames over here to guard our machines!"

Inside the Justice, Athrun pulled his handgun out of the survival case, checked the magazine, and opened the hatch, lowering himself to the ground. Cagalli was already halfway towards the exposed tunnel. Athrun took a deep breath and headed after her.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Kira glanced at his cockpit displays as the message came in.

"Our troops have entered the enemy's headquarters," Rau said, "and we have confirmed the death of Orb's Chief Representative. However, our forces are pulling back in order to deal with the Alliance fleet."

"Then what is my special mission?" Kira asked, pausing to fire a full burst to wipe out a squadron of Murasames.

"Cagalli Yula Athha is making her way into the headquarters," Rau said. Kira flinched at the sound of her name. "She will more than likely cause us trouble. Find her and stop her."

"Yes sir," Kira said quietly.

"Remember what they did to you, Kira," Rau reminded him. "Cagalli is just as guilty as Athrun and Lacus. Remember that."

The line went out. Kira looked up ahead, at the smoldering form of the Orb National Defense Headquarters. He saw a glint of gold near the back of the building— the Akatsuki.

"Henderson team, Alvarez team, come with me!" Kira shouted, taking off towards the Defense Headquarters. Two squadrons of BABIs swept in behind him. Kira narrowed his eyes at the building— _they_ would be in there.

A wing of Murasames came streaking towards him, beam cannons blazing. The BABIs took evasive action— Kira scowled and rocketed up into their ranks. With a scream, he unleashed a full weapons burst, sending half the squadron plummeting into the ocean. The rest of the squadron backed away— Kira cut them down with another full burst. He turned and glanced down at the building below.

"Guard my machine until I return," he ordered. The Freedom dropped down to the ground, smashing open a wall with its shield. Kira opened the hatch, seized his pistol, and rushed out.

_They_ were in there. And they would pay.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Savior circled around the Impulse with a beam cannon blast— Shinn ducked underneath it and returned fire with his beam rifle. He grunted in disgust— the Impulse was at a disadvantage in firepower. He had to get in close.

"Was Stella that important to you?!" Shiho demanded, as the Savior unleashed another volley. Shinn dodged it easily and rocketed over the Savior's head, showering it with beam rifle fire. "Didn't you even feel remorse?!"

"I haven't killed you yet!" Shinn shouted back. "Don't make me regret it!" He switched to his beam saber, bringing it down with a crash on the Savior's shield. Shiho drew her own saber and swung back— Shinn deflected her blow with his own shield, leaving the two mobile suits locked in midair.

"Would you kill your comrades in cold blood, Shinn?!" Shiho yelled. The Savior surged forward, sending the Impulse reeling back. "Would you kill us to protect her?! You said you would! Would you do it?!"

Shinn scowled up at her. "You're not one to be asking me that!" he snapped. "I killed Heine, didn't I?!"

"Would you kill me?!" Shiho shot back. The Savior came back down on the Impulse with a crash, sabers slamming together. "Would you kill Luna?! Would you kill Rey?! Would you kill Captain Gladys?! How many people will have to die to keep Stella safe?!"

"You can always just leave me alone!" Shinn growled. The Impulse jetted back to avoid another saber swing from the Savior. "I won't have to fight _any_ of you that way!"

The Savior charged. "_I can't do that!_" Shiho screamed. The Savior and Impulse slammed together again. "You betrayed us! I can't let you walk away! One way or another I will bring you to justice!"

Shinn ground his teeth as the Savior flung him backwards, towards the ocean's surface. He fired the booster, skimming along the water and dodging a beam cannon volley from the Savior. Shiho took off after him, brandishing her saber.

"You've caused us too much suffering! You've led us around the entire Earth Sphere on a wild goose chase! This ends now!"

The Savior raised its saber for a killing blow— Shinn screamed and rocketed forward, kicking the Savior in the face before it could strike. Shiho blinked in disbelief— a moment later, Shinn delivered a punishing kick to the Savior's stomach, sending it plunging into the ocean.

Shinn glanced over his shoulder as the feeling of danger returned, and scowled at the approaching Sword Impulse and Blast Impulse.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Navy supercarrier _Takemikazuchi_, Onogoro Island

"Close the compartments! Damage control, get moving!" Todaka shouted, struggling to be heard over the blaring alarms.

"It's no use, sir!" one of the deckhands cried. "The controls aren't responding!"

"Captain, fires have broken out all over the ship and the water level on the port side is rising!" another officer exclaimed. "We're going to capsize at this rate!"

Sitting in his chair amidst the shouting and blaring alarms and intermittent red lights, Jona glowered hatefully at the ZAFT _Lesseps_-class land battleship looming in front of them. "Abandon ship," he said quietly.

Todaka nodded gravely. "It can't be helped," he said. "Give the order to abandon ship!" He turned wearily to face Jona. "Admiral," he said, "get to the lifeboats."

Jona arched an eyebrow at him. "You're not coming?" he asked.

Todaka straightened up, looking Jona square in the eye. "I have lived under your rule for two years," he said, "and watched you turn Orb from a paradise into a hell. I will be glad to die now, rather than watch you burn our country down again."

Jona purpled in rage. "How dare you— "

An explosion behind the bridge tower cut Jona off. Todaka nodded to a pair of deckhands, who quickly seized Jona by the arms and pulled him off the bridge before he could say anything more. As the bridge emptied, Todaka stepped up towards the helm.

"The engines are still operational," he said quietly. He looked up at the _Lesseps_ in front of him. "I suppose I can go down fighting."

——————————————————————————————————————————

The _Takemikazuchi_ lurched forward— in his lifeboat, Jona stared back in disgust as the ship began to move, crawling towards the _Lesseps_ in front of it. Todaka was going to go down with the ship— well, that was fine, that bastard could feel free to die now.

An ASH landed on the _Takemikazuchi_'s deck and smashed out its bridge, but it was too late— the _Takemikazuchi_ plowed into the _Lesseps_, and a thunderous explosion tore both ships apart.

The crew, in their scattered lifeboats, stood up and saluted. Jona scowled. That bastard had gotten what he deserved.

He turned at the sound of a mobile suit engine, and found a purple Windam descending towards his lifeboat.

"Admiral Seiran," a voice said. Jona blinked, realizing that the voice was that of Colonel Neo Roanoke. The Windam stretched out its hand. "Quickly now, Admiral, we don't have much time."

Jona glanced back at the columns of smoke towering over his country. He stepped onto the Windam's hand, steadying himself against its palm as its fingers closed around him to hold in in place. Inside the cockpit, Neo smirked, pulling away from the beleaguered lifeboats.

"I'm the Phantom Pain," he said. The crosshairs for the Windam's CIWS guns passed over the lifeboats. "I don't leave witnesses."

Neo grinned and opened fire.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Ruumari screamed; the Blast Impulse fired its beam rifle up at the Force Impulse; Shinn scowled and dodged the shots, twisting down towards the water and firing back.

"You again," Shinn growled.

"I'll tear you apart, traitor!" Ruumari screamed. On one of the islands, Aoma turned at the sound of Ruumari's voice.

"Ruumari! Don't!" she shouted, turning to take off.

The Blast Impulse fired again, but Shinn dodged and shot Ruumari's beam rifle out of his hand. Snarling, Ruumari fired the Blast Impulse's weapons in a full burst, sending a tower of water flashing up into the air.

The Sword Impulse dropped in, swords upraised; Shinn jetted out of the way and kicked Aoma aside. The Blast Impulse attacked again, and Shinn twisted out of the way of Ruumari's shots with practiced ease.

"You keep coming after me," Shinn grunted, "but you never learn!"

The Blast Impulse's engines flared to life as it skimmed over the water. The Sword Impulse attacked again; Shinn kicked behind himself, knocking the Sword Impulse back again, and charged back towards the Blast Impulse.

"The one in the Sword knows what he's doing," Shinn said to himself, "so I'll take care of you first!"

The Blast Impulse jetted away and fired another full burst. "You monster!" Ruumari shrieked. "You betrayed us! Come and face justice!"

The Blast Impulse unleashed a storm of missiles; Shinn cut through them with a CIWS burst and fired his beam rifle, blowing off the Blast Impulse's left beam cannon. Ruumari grunted as the Blast Impulse quaked, and fired the remaining guns back at the Force Impulse. Shinn dodged easily once again and turned towards the Sword Impulse.

"Ruumari! Pull back!" Aoma screamed; the Sword Impulse hurled both its beam boomerangs, but Shinn dove over them easily and charged, drawing his beam saber.

"When will you guys give up?!" Shinn yelled.

The Sword Impulse's anti-ship swords clashed against the Force Impulse's saber; Shinn let out a scream, and the Force Impulse thrust its saber skyward, forcing the Sword Impulse's arms up into the air. The Force Impulse took off over the Sword Impulse's head; Aoma's eyes widened in disbelief—

An instant later, the beam boomerangs sawed through the Sword Impulse's right arm and right leg.

The Force Impulse fired a beam rifle shot from the air; Ruumari watched in shock as the Sword Impulse plummeted towards the sea, heedless of the incoming blast; a moment later, the Blast Silhouette exploded, throwing Ruumari's Impulse forwards.

"Ruumari!" Aoma shouted. "Catch!" She hurled her remaining anti-ship sword at the Blast Impulse, as the Sword Impulse crashed into the water.

Above the Sword Impulse, the Force Impulse caught the Sword Impulse's severed arm, seizing the second anti-ship sword and igniting the blade.

"You traitor!" Ruumari screamed, as the Blast Impulse fired its thrusters and took off towards the Force Impulse. "I won't let you touch Aoma!"

Shinn saw the Blast Impulse charge; the seed burst in his mind, and he saw the Blast Impulse raise its sword above its head. With lightning speed, Shinn severed the Blast Impulse's sword arm at the elbow and kicked it in the face. Ruumari screamed as the Blast Impulse fell; Shinn snarled in rage and charged; a shriek of splintering metal tore through the air—

Shinn clenched his teeth as the Force Impulse's anti-ship sword went plunging into the Blast Impulse's cockpit.

He let go of the sword; the impaled Blast Impulse collapsed towards the water and exploded.

"RUUMARI!" Aoma screamed.

Shinn winced at the familiar feeling of a life vanishing. He turned and took off back into the battle.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb National Defense Headquarters, Onogoro Island

"The ZAFT troops must be pulling back," Andy observed, as he raced with Cagalli through a dark, damp tunnel lined with exposed pipes and superstructure. "They weren't expecting the Alliance to show up."

"That's no excuse not to hurry!" Cagalli exclaimed. "We have to get in control of the situation here before they do!" They rounded a corner— they all came to a halt in disbelief, staring at the figure before them.

Kira Yamato scowled back at them, gun drawn.

"_Kira?_" Athrun exclaimed in disbelief. "What— what are _you_ doing here?"

Kira cast a hateful glare at Athrun and pointed his gun at Cagalli.

"What the hell is this?" Mwu shouted. "Kira, what do you think you're doing?"

"Get out of our way, Kira!" Cagalli said, taking a threatening step forward. Athrun grabbed her by the shoulder, but she shook him off. "Get a hold of yourself! We're not your enemies! Why are you fighting us?!"

Kira's face twisted in rage, his eyes darkening, tears forming at the edges.

"We're trying to turn Orb back into a haven!" Cagalli went on, glaring at Kira. "Who put these ideas in your head that Athrun killed Fllay, or that we betrayed you? We aren't your enemies! Stop— "

"You betrayed me," Kira snarled.

And he pulled the trigger.

For a moment, the only thing anyone could hear was the gunshot echoing among the pipes. Cagalli stared forward with hollow eyes, blood gushing from the hole over her heart. She pitched backwards lifelessly.

Athrun's eyes widened in horror.

"_CAGALLI!_"

Yzak was the first to draw his pistol, as Athrun caught Cagalli's body. "You _bastard!_" he screamed, lining up for a shot at Kira's head. Kira ducked before Yzak could fire, escaping into the shadows as Yzak fired rounds after him.

"Yzak!" Dearka said, quickly pulling him down as Kira returned fire. Andy and Mwu spread out to either side, opening fire with their own weapons, and Kira slipped off into the shadows again.

All eyes turned to Athrun as he knelt on the floor, holding Cagalli's bleeding corpse, his head bowed. He didn't make a sound.

"Athrun," Dearka began quietly. He stopped short, noticing that Athrun's shoulders were trembling, his arms wrapped tightly around Cagalli's corpse.

"Commander Bartfeldt, Commander La Fllaga," he said quietly, his voice trembling as badly as his shoulders. "Please take Cagalli back to the ship." He paused. "Yzak, Dearka, come with me."

"For what?" Yzak asked, trying to sound subdued.

Athrun looked up, his eyes afire through his tears, dulled and lightless with fury.

"We're going to find Kira."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Luna screamed as her ZAKU went spiraling out of control. Behind her were three Murasames, one of which was painted bright gold, with regal-looking lion symbols on their left shoulder armor. They circled above her like hawks as she struggled to regain control of her Guul.

"Who _are_ these guys?!" she exclaimed, finally leveling off and activating her long range cannon. "They're not normal soldiers!"

The Murasames came circling down for another pass, opening fire with their beam cannons. Luna darted backward, firing her own cannon to ward them off. They pulled back from the shimmering red beam, but came wheeling around to attack again.

"I'm not going down that easily!" Luna shouted. "You can't— "

The sound of a beam shot cut her off— a moment later, she looked down in horror at the green beam shaft piercing her Guul. It exploded, and as the ZAKU went pitching up into the air, she caught a glimpse down below of a white machine with its own rifle extended.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "_Rey?!_"

Down below, Rey scowled at the falling red ZAKU. "You know too much, Lunamaria," he said. "Your usefulness to the Chairman has expired."

He fired again, blowing off the Gunner Wizard and sending the ZAKU lurching forward. Luna stared in disbelief as Rey's ZAKU as it turned and stomped away. She turned her eyes towards the rapidly approaching ocean and desperately fired the ZAKU's thrusters, trying to glide over the ocean's surface. She glanced up ahead—

With a shriek of disbelief, she landed painfully on an island, grinding to a halt in the dirt. The Murasames came down around her, and Luna opened her eyes to find herself staring down the golden Murasame.

She ground her teeth. Rey had betrayed her. Rey had tried to kill her. Rey would try to kill her again if she returned, somehow, from this.

Perhaps it was better to just disappear.

_I'm sorry, Meyrin,_ she thought, squeezing the tears out of her eyes.

With that, she popped the hatch open and stepped out, holding up her hands.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Onogoro Island

It was the middle of battle, but as the Aegis and Strike Gundams brought back Cagalli's silent Akatsuki, nobody could find the voice to speak.

"This is Strike," Mwu's voice said softly. "Cagalli is dead."

Sitting in the chair above Murrue's, Lacus made no attempt to hide the tears in her eyes. She bowed her head. She had felt it— she had felt the fiery, untamed presence of Cagalli vanish. And for an instant, she had felt Kira— cold, ruthless, angry. But she could not bring herself to believe it. Kira…he couldn't…could he?

"I know it sounds heartless of me to say," Mwu went on, "but once we dock, I'm taking the Akatsuki. Athrun went after Kira. We'll have to bring him back before he gets himself killed."

"Did…did Kira do this?" Murrue asked, staring in shock as the Akatsuki was pulled into the hangar.

"He's not Kira anymore," Andy put in, as the Aegis set down the Akatsuki in its usual berth. He glanced down at Cagalli's body, her eyes closed, her face still looking surprised nonetheless. "Captain, what should we do about the body?"

"We'll give her a burial at sea before we leave Orb's waters," Lacus spoke up through her tears, drawing everyone's attention. "Cagalli must be left at Orb. She can surround and protect her country forever that way."

"I'm going to bring Athrun back," Mwu said, undoing his restraints. "No more of us will die today, I swear."

As Mwu's line cut out, Lacus stared down at the ocean, feeling numb. Kira had done it— he had killed Cagalli. He had destroyed his own sister.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Onogoro Island

"_KIIIIIRAAAA!_"

The Justice Gundam came down with a crash onto the Freedom Gundam, sabers clashed. Athrun screamed, his dull eyes flashing, as he surged forward, putting all the strength the Justice's subflight lifter could muster behind his charge.

"_WHY?!"_ Athrun shrieked. "_YOU MONSTER! ANSWER ME!_"

"You're the one who killed Fllay!" Kira screamed back, swinging his saber back at the Justice. The two mobile suits grappled again, before jetting apart and circling each other. "Now you understand the pain you put me through!"

"_SHE WAS YOUR SISTER!_" Athrun roared, firing his beam cannons as he charged back into the Freedom's face. "_SHE WANTED TO SAVE YOU!_"

"I don't need saving!" Kira snapped. The Freedom boosted away from the Justice, firing a full burst after it. Athrun skirted it and charged again, attacking with a dramatic downward hack that Kira caught horizontally.

"_YOU BASTARD!_" Athrun shouted. The Justice heaved forward again, pushing the Freedom down towards the water.

"She was standing in our way!" Kira shot back. "She was going to make us all keep fighting and dying!" His eyes flashed as he saw the seed. "_She betrayed me! You betrayed me! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!_"

The two Gundams tore apart from each other, circling each other again, before Athrun lunged in for another saber stab. The Freedom deflected it and bashed the Justice in the face with its shield, sweeping in for the kill. Athrun let out a wordless yell and swung his saber down to block the Freedom's horizontal swipe at the Justice's waist.

"_I…**I**…"_ Athrun murmured, glowering into the eyes of the Freedom Gundam, into the eyes of Kira Yamato. "**_I LOVED HER!_**"

The Justice surged again, shoving the Freedom down towards the water, and Athrun roared forward, saber raised.

"**_KIRA!_**"

The Freedom charged back up towards the Justice, its own saber drawn back for a killing blow.

"**_ATHRUN!_**"

There was a crash— the two mobile suits met in a shower of sparks, slammed against each other, struggling to overpower each other.

"_I'll track you down,_" Athrun snarled. "_I'll find you! I'll kill you! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!_"

"You have no right to say that to _ME!_" Kira shrieked. The Freedom kicked the Justice in the chin, sending it staggering back, and swept in to attack again. Athrun looked up, too late, as the Freedom's saber was already coming down—

…and landed against another beam saber. Athrun and Kira looked up furiously, finding the Duel Gundam there, beam saber drawn and blocking the Freedom's killing swing at the Justice's torso.

Athrun grunted as the Justice Gundam rocked, the Buster Gundam dropping in to seize it by the arms, and a moment later, Dearka took off. Kira turned his furious eyes on the Duel— Yzak backed away with a burst of exhaust, unloading his missile launcher into the Freedom. As Kira backed away with a CIWS burst, the Duel took off after the Buster.

"_LET ME GO!_" Athrun shrieked. "_I'LL KILL HIM!_"

"Not while getting yourself killed too!" Dearka shouted back. "Control yourself, Athrun!"

"He'll kill you while you're like this!" Yzak added, pausing to shoot down a BABI as it swept in behind them. "Get a hold of yourself!"

"_HE KILLED CAGALLI!_" Athrun screamed.

"And he'll kill you too if you don't calm down!" Dearka snapped. "Calm down! You'll have time to fight him later, but _you_ aren't going to die here too, not if we can help it!"

Athrun fell silent for a moment, his fists clenched tight around the Justice's controls, his arms trembling.

"_I'll…**I'LL KILL YOU, KIRA!**_"

Dearka and Yzak exchanged a dour glance and boosted back towards the _Megami_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Aoma found herself on the barren shore of a tiny island, the maimed remains of her Sword Impulse Gundam lying on the side, washed up on the surface by the explosive destruction of a _Vosgulov_ nearby. She dropped her helmet in the sand, staring at the plume of smoke rising from the spot where Ruumari had died.

"He…he's gone…" she whispered. "…he…"

Something washed up at her feet in the surf. She looked down hollowly at it— Ruumari's helmet sat at her feet, blackened and bloodstained. She picked it up slowly, staring at the broken, bloody glass, the red-stained, empty inside, the cracks and burns and spots of blood.

At last she collapsed to her knees and cried.

"Why couldn't you just _listen?!_" she sobbed. "Why did you have to die?!" She looked up at the column of smoke. "_WHAT DID YOU PROVE NOW?!_" She turned away angrily, squeezing her eyes shut, her tears falling onto the blackened surface of his helmet. "What am I going to do…what am I going to tell your parents?!" She looked up again. "I told them I'd look after you! I told them we'd both come back! Why did you have to get yourself killed?!" She pounded the surf with her trembling fist. "_DAMN YOU! COME BACK!_"

There was a crash behind her— she turned around, finding Rey's Blaze ZAKU Phantom towering over her. It knelt down next to her, putting one arm around the maimed Sword Impulse and hoisting it up.

"We are retreating," Rey's voice said over the ZAKU's loudspeaker. "This attack has been a disaster. The _Minerva_ is pulling out, and other units are likely to do the same. Come on."

Aoma looked around desolately, picking herself up and clutching Ruumari's empty helmet. "What about Luna?" she asked. "Where's Luna?"

Rey was silent for but a moment. "Lunamaria was killed," he said.

Aoma's bloodshot eyes widened in horror. "_Killed?!_" she echoed. "She was— "

"We are out of time," Rey cut her off brusquely. "Get on. We're going."

Aoma made her way haltingly into the Sword Impulse's cockpit and shut the hatch, enveloping her in darkness. She looked down at the dark shape of Ruumari's helmet and cried.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Onogoro Island

Meyrin was sobbing uncontrollably. It was not military protocol to leave a hysterical crewmember in his or her post, but Talia could care less. Two of her pilots had died, along with the countless other ZAFT soldiers. Up above, the hulking form of the Destroy Gundam wiped out another _Petrie-_class battleship with its huge back-mounted quadruple cannons, sending dozens more ZAFT soldiers to their graves.

"Have we…lost?" Arthur asked quietly.

The Savior Gundam cruised into the hangar. Up above was a tower of smoke, and nearby, an island where Rey's ZAKU Phantom was supporting a dismembered Sword Impulse. Talia knew the day would come where Ruumari would finally go too far, but that did not make it any less shocking when the blow was finally struck. And to think that Lunamaria had died as well…

Talia glanced at Meyrin, still sobbing hysterically. She cast a dour glance at Burt; he nodded in response and stood to gingerly take Meyrin by the shoulders.

"_LUNA!_" Meyrin shrieked, leaping out of her chair and rushing up to the screen. "_COME BACK!_"

"Meyrin— " Arthur began, rising from his seat.

"Take her back to her room, and send for someone to fill her post in the meantime," Talia cut in. Arthur looked at her in surprise. "That's an order."

"Y-Yes ma'am," Arthur answered nervously, turning to take Meyrin by the shoulders and guide her off the bridge.

Talia watched numbly as Rey's ZAKU took off and landed on the _Minerva_'s starboard mobile suit deck, stomping down into the hangar. She glanced at the battlefield— the ZAFT units were no longer bothering to retreat in an orderly fashion, but were simply fleeing in terror in the face of the unstoppable Destroy and the unexpected firepower of the Alliance fleet.

"We've received a priority message from the fleet commander," Burt reported. Talia glanced grimly at him. "We are to retreat to Antarctica."

"As I thought," she said. "Malik, set course for Antarctica. Engines to maximum."

"Yes ma'am," Malik answered quietly, setting to work at the helm.

Talia sat back, staring at the plume of smoke that had once been Ruumari.

Everything, it seemed, was going to hell.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	37. Phase 37: The Four Horsemen

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 37 - The Four Horsemen

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 27th, CE 73 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Pacific Ocean

The casket splashed down into the water, the bouquet of white lilies laid on its top scattering over the surface of the water.

"We will not forget what you fought for," Murrue said authoritatively, standing before the gathered crew on the deck of the _Megami_. "All hands, _salute!_"

Cagalli's casket sank under the waves as the _Megami_'s crew stood at attention. On the deck, dutifully saluting with the rest of the crew, Lacus glanced over at Athrun. His eyes were red, his face pale and haggard. He had changed. And somehow, someway, she sensed anger from him.

There was silence as the _Megami_ continued on and the crew slowly returned to its work. Lacus stayed on the deck, staring at Orb as it vanished into the distance. There was still a steady cloud of smoke looming over it. And somehow she could sense death from it.

She wondered if she was a Newtype, to be able to sense these feelings.

At that, she cast a glance over at the _Kasselheim_, and felt the familiar presence of Shinn Asuka.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Office of the PLANT Supreme Chairman, PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5

It was most discouraging.

The casualty reports were just beginning to come in of the debacle of yesterday's Operation _Fury_. But Gilbert brushed them off, knowing that they were likely grossly inaccurate— the surviving ZAFT forces were all trying desperately to get to Antarctica, with the Alliance's fleet and the unstoppable Destroy Gundam driving at their heels, and were more concerned with getting themselves to Antarctica in one piece than figuring out who wasn't coming with them.

On the other hand, as Gilbert called up the next file, there was a glimmer of good news. The _Vosgulov_-class submarine _Saint Helens_ had broken out of Carpentaria and through the Alliance blockade, escaping out to see before the Alliance's own attack submarines could give chase. Of course, it had immediately set course for Antarctica, so the Alliance seemed to be figuring that they could just destroy it there. The DOM Troopers sent to break open the Alliance lines had performed well— if the reports were to be believed, six DOM Troopers had destroyed eight warships and almost fifty mobile suits before the Windams brought them down.

The important thing, however, was that the Destiny Mobile Weapon Project's Gundams were safely on their way to Carpentaria. Soon they would be at the PLANTs, safely held on Messiah, away from danger.

Gilbert cast a wary glance at Horatio Vandemant, standing at attention off to the side, hands dutifully behind his back.

"How did the Earth Alliance turn us back at Orb so easily?" he asked. Horatio paused a moment, searching for words.

"The Alliance had secretly assembled a fleet at Yokosuka and moved it to Orb at top speed during the night," he said. "We had assumed that if they were going to send forces to Orb, they would come from either the Carpentaria siege or the former Oceania Union."

Gilbert looked back at the screen of his computer terminal, as it displayed the tactical situation that the Antarctica base and what was left of the Fourth Combined Assault Force faced.

"We have resigned ourselves to losing Carpentaria," Horatio continued, "and are gathering forces at Antarctica, where we expect an Alliance assault within the next few days. Alliance fleets have been confirmed launching from Madagascar, Singapore, and Montevideo. They all seem to be linking up with the Alliance fleet that attacked us at Orb, forming one large fleet group to come crashing down on Antarctica on the heels of the Fourth Assault Force."

"They had an ulterior motive in protecting Orb after all," Gilbert mused. "Recall our space forces to the PLANTs and prepare to mobilize the _Gondwana_ and Messiah. We will be needing them soon." Horatio blinked in surprise. "This war is coming to its end. The victor will be crowned in space," Gilbert scowled, "as he always is."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Pacific Ocean

They had at least allowed her some clothes, and nobody had thus far tried to take advantage of her, so for that Lunamaria was grateful. Nonetheless, she was still handcuffed with two assault rifle-toting guards on either side, led down the halls of the intimidating _Megami_ towards the brig.

Everywhere, there were ubiquitous Orb uniforms, even though the interior of the ship reminded her of a ZAFT design. She recalled little about the Orb Raiders, other than that they were led by the late Uzumi Nala Athha's daughter Cagalli, and were dedicated to bringing own the Seiran government in Orb. But if that was the case, why would they bother taking her prisoner? Would she be a hostage to them, for bartering with ZAFT?

A loud crash snapped Luna out of her grim reverie, and a door in front of her opened. Her guards took a cautious step back, pulling her with them, as a man with dark skin and blond hair staggered out of the door, staring angrily whoever was in it.

"Calm down!" he shouted. "You have to think rationally! You're no good to anyone if you keep freaking out like this!"

The man yelped in surprise and ducked as a coffee mug went sailing into the wall behind him and shattered. "I'll kill him myself if I have to!" a voice, vaguely familiar, screamed back from inside. "I'll take him down next time! No matter what!"

"Athrun!" the blond man shouted.

Luna's eyes widened in disbelief. "_Athrun?_" she echoed.

The blond man glanced at her and ducked under another flying coffee mug, shutting the door. "Who is she?" he asked one of the guards.

"ZAFT pilot we took prisoner yesterday," the guard answered. "That red ZAKU in the hangar is hers. We're taking her in for questioning."

"Questioning?" the blond man repeated. "What, ZAFT knows something we want to know?"

"Well, she surrendered to us," the other guard put in awkwardly. The blond man sighed.

"Eh, whatever— " the blond man began.

The door opened again; another uniformed man stormed out, and Luna found herself face to face with Athrun Zala.

"Who's this?" he asked brusquely, glancing at the blond man.

"She's a ZAFT pilot they took prisoner— " the blond man began.

"You're Athrun Zala!" Luna exclaimed. Athrun glanced back at her.

"What are you doing with her?" he asked the guards.

"Taking her to the captain for questioning," one of them answered.

As they spoke, Luna stared in disbelief at Athrun. He was there, right in front of her; Athrun Zala, the hero of the PLANTs, the man who destroyed the -X105 Strike…and yet his eyes were bloodshot and cold, his face pale and lined, his entire demeanor burning with anger. He glanced at the blond man and grabbed him by the arm.

"Come on," he said, "we've still got simulator work to do."

"_What?_" the blond man cried. "Athrun, we've been in that damn thing all day!"

"And we'll keep doing it until we're all _perfect!_" Athrun snapped. "You remember when Kira killed Nicol?"

"Yeah, well, I'm older and smarter than that now!" the blond man protested. "I'm not going to go running into my death just because Kira killed Cagalli!"

Luna blinked in disbelief. Cagalli had been killed? The leader of the Orb Raiders?

Athrun dragged the blond man back into the room they had come out of, and the door slammed shut behind them.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Southern Ocean

"Captain Meredith," Rau said with a condescending smile, sitting back in his office chair, "I see you managed to escape from Carpentaria."

"The six DOMs they sent with me weren't so lucky," the thin, aging man answered in a creaky voice. "My ship's engines are damaged and we cannot submerge. What is the nature of this message, commander?"

Rau smiled back. "We were following an Earth Alliance unit that used Mirage Colloid to elude us," he said. "They are heading in your direction. I suggest you take a detour to the south and round your course out to evade them. We're sending you the coordinates now."

Captain Meredith paused, reading a screen on his end. "This course will add another day to our travel time," he protested.

"Would you rather spend an extra day going to Antarctica, or die?" Rau asked. "Your cargo, after all, is quite valuable."

Meredith sighed. "Very well, commander," he acquiesced. "Will any friendly units be nearby to provide escort?"

"Well," Rau answered, sitting back, "there's the _Minerva_."

Meredith blinked in surprise. "The _Minerva?_"

"Rendezvous with the _Minerva_ and transfer your cargo," Rau instructed. "It is too important to leave on your ship, if your ship is too damaged to submerge and run at full power."

The line went out, and Rau sat back, chuckling. Across the room, Valentine stared suspiciously at him.

"Dare I ask why you did that?" she asked dubiously. "That course will put them right into contact with the _Megami_ and the _Kasselheim_ in the middle of the transfer operation."

"Exactly," Rau chuckled. "Shinn doesn't fit well into our plans as he is now. He needs a new toy to play with."

"You're going to let him _steal_ the Destiny Mobile Weapons?!" Valentine exclaimed, standing upright. "What the hell is wrong with you? We _need_ those!"

"_ZAFT_ needs those," Rau corrected. "But no, I'm not going to let them steal those Gundams. At least, not now. The _Saint Helens_ is carrying twelve GOUF Igniteds along with those four Gundams. They won't be so easy to take down, even for our vaunted little Newtype Shinn. And that's assuming they even launch an attack— I'm sure the Orb Raiders are still reeling from the loss of their princess."

"Then what are you pulling this little venture for?" Valentine snapped.

"You'll see soon enough," Rau said with a smile. "Have the Strike Freedom transferred to the _Deliverance_ as soon as the _Minerva_ reaches Antarctica. Kira's sword is getting rusty. It's time he got a new one."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Pacific Ocean

It was getting colder. Shinn wrapped his long blue coat even tighter around himself as he wandered out onto the deck of the _Kasselheim_. It was cold as hell out here, but it was still calming, and even so, as he stepped onto the deck, he noted that Stella didn't seem to mind. The ocean was always the ocean, he guessed, regardless of how cold it was getting.

Stella glanced over at him and smiled as he came up next to her.

"It's getting cold out here," Shinn warned. "Don't stay out here too long or you'll get sick."

Stella nodded happily and returned to staring at the sea. Shinn looked over at the _Megami— _hatred and anger were radiating out from some point inside, some point that had to be Athrun Zala. Shinn had heard that Cagalli had been killed during the battle at Onogoro, but the hatred that was coming from Athrun's presence made it all too clear who had done it.

"Are we going to go back to space, Shinn?" Stella asked suddenly, looking over at him. Shinn shrugged, looking out into the distance. He wasn't quite sure where the _Kasselheim_ was going, nor was he sure where the _Megami_ was going. The Orb Raiders had just lost their leader— chances were good they were floundering in a daze as someone was forced to step up and take command through their grief.

Of course, ZAFT wasn't going to last much longer on Earth, and an Earth controlled effectively by the Atlantic Federation wasn't one that looked enticing.

"There's no sea in space," Stella murmured. "Stella doesn't like it."

Shinn smiled. There were a lot of reasons why Stella didn't like space. The PLANTs were up there, and she was afraid of them.

He glanced back at the _Megami_. Athrun was in there, burning with hatred for Kira Yamato. Shinn wondered if he should be sad that Cagalli had died— he couldn't find it in himself to mourn her death. She had been a fool and gone rushing out onto the battlefield— it had only been a matter of time before that foolhardiness caught up with her. But that didn't change the pain he felt from Athrun. Whether Cagalli had been a fool or not, she had meant a lot to Athrun, and now his rage was spilling over into Shinn's senses.

He cast his gaze over the ship, reaching out and feeling the presences of everyone aboard it. He felt an odd tinge of pressure at one point— underneath it was the familiar soothing aura of Lacus Clyne. He wondered if she was a Newtype too. He scanned the presences emanating from the _Megami_, but recognized no others…

…except for one.

Shinn blinked in surprise, as, for a fleeting moment, his mind touched something familiar. He realized with a gasp of disbelief that Lunamaria was somewhere on the _Megami_.

The feeling was gone an instant later, but Shinn stared wide-eyed at the _Megami_. He had felt Luna's presence on that ship. She was there.

"Shinn?" Stella asked softly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Shinn answered quickly. He looked back at the _Megami_.

_Luna…what are you doing here…?_

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Southern Ocean

Shiho had an idea of what she was walking into when she opened the door to Aoma's room. She had been left alone in her room on Talia's orders, to, as Talia had put it, "cry until there's nothing left." But as Shiho stepped gingerly into the darkened room, she had to admit that Aoma had taken those orders awfully seriously.

It immediately occurred to Shiho that she could not call this shrunken, trembling girl sitting on her bed a woman. She was too vulnerable and broken— Ruumari's death had snapped something in her, and finally all her suffering at his expense was coming out. But she wasn't crying— Shiho found that odd. Perhaps she had already cried until there was nothing left.

She looked up at last, and Shiho drew back in surprise at the burning hatred in her red eyes. She remembered where she had seen it before, and it sent a chill down her spine.

"Aoma," Shiho said quietly, kneeling next to her and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Aoma nodded wordlessly. She blinked away a ring of tears at the edges of her eyes. "Are we going to attack the pirates again?" she asked, her voice calm.

"Not that I know of," Shiho answered. "The last thing I heard is that we're going to meet up with a _Vosgulov_ to receive some important cargo to take to Antarctica."

Aoma paused a moment. "When will we attack them again?" she asked again.

"I don't know," Shiho admitted.

Aoma's eyes narrowed. "The next time we fight," she said, the tremble in her voice vanishing, "I'll find the traitor and destroy him."

Shiho blinked in surprise. "Don't make the same mistake he made," she put in quickly. "Just because Shinn destroyed Ruumari doesn't mean you should go rushing headlong into disaster to avenge him."

Aoma paused again. She looked slowly at Shiho. "Then," she said, "can I have all the data we have on Shinn and his Impulse unit?"

Shiho frowned. "What for?"

"To find a weakness," Aoma answered.

Shiho paused, studying Aoma carefully. She stared back, her eyes wide and angry, her face pale and drawn. There was no stopping her anyway— it was best to at least supervise her.

"I'll see what I can pull together," she said.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Southern Ocean

They were covered in blood. He could see it now— his hands were covered in blood. Cagalli's blood. He had killed her.

Kira sat up in his bed, staring with wide eyes at the wall before him, covered in icy sweat. He had shot her, right through the heart, right in front of Athrun. He could still Athrun's screams, ringing in his ears, as the Justice Gundam stormed towards him, looking for blood.

Valentine sat up next to him, arching an eyebrow at him as he stared down at his hands.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Kira tried to clench his fists, trembling.

"I…I killed her," he murmured. "I…I killed Cagalli…"

"Why is it bothering you?" Valentine asked. "You had to do it."

Kira looked slowly at her, eyes wide and trembling.

"She was trying to rebuild Orb," Valentine went on, "She was going to make the same mistakes in this war that she made in the last one. And she was trying to pull you pack into that mess, and make you suffer the same things you suffered then." She put her arms around him, pulling him close. "You've moved beyond that, Kira. You have a higher purpose now. We've shown you the true path to a peaceful world."

"I know," Kira stammered. "But…" He looked back down at his hands.

"Just fight for a little while longer," Valentine whispered. "And then you'll never have to fight again."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 28th, CE 73 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Southern Ocean

Far ahead, magnified on the monitor, were two ships— ZAFT's famous _Minerva_, and a battered-looking _Vosgulov_ submarine. They were in the middle of some kind of operation— on the deck, Murrue could count four gray, elaborate-looking mobile suits, but the magnification was not high enough to make out any details. They looked vaguely like Gundams, and there were ZAFT mobile suits standing guard all over both ships. There was one that looked like the Justice, one resembling the Freedom, a Gundam similar to the Providence, and one that Murrue couldn't identify at all.

"Looks like ZAFT's got a few new models," Andy commented, from his haunt next to Sai's seat. "What should we do?"

"Our machines are getting way too old these days," Mwu put in, standing next to Murrue's chair and crossing his arms. "We could stand for an upgrade."

"But we'd have to take those things intact," Murrue replied, peering at them again. "I'm not even sure what they're for."

"We'll take them," a voice said, low and furious. All eyes reluctantly turned to Athrun Zala as he stepped onto the bridge. "We'll take them and find Kira."

"Athrun, that's— " Murrue began.

"We _have_ to," Athrun said. "Kira killed Cagalli. I'm not going to stop until I've made him pay."

"Hold on a minute, Athrun," Mwu interjected, "right now we're trying to figure out what's going on with Orb, and we're in need of supplies— "

"Kira is dangerous," a second voice added.

Lacus Clyne stepped onto the bridge, silencing everyone with the calm, firm tone in her voice.

"Lacus," Andy began, "we don't even know what he's up to."

"Which is why we need to find out," she said. "Kira has changed, and is now willing to kill even his sister in pursuit of some goal. He still has power and he still wants to use it, but if he is willing to fight us and kill us, then we need to know more about what he's trying to do. And as Commander La Fllaga said, we need to capture supplies and new machinery to replace our aging weapons. Dullindal has an agenda of his own with this war, as do the forces pulling the strings of the Earth Alliance. We need to find out what that agenda is, and stop it, before this war spirals out of control."

"Lacus…" Murrue murmured, staring at her in disbelief. The sorrow and regret were gone, replaced by firmness of purpose. Lacus had made up her mind— there was no doubt who the leader was now. "We will follow the _Minerva_ and attempt to capture those Gundams," Murrue said, turning around to face the screen again. "Neumann, wait for the _Minerva_ and the _Vosgulov_ to get going. We'll follow at a cautious distance. Inform the _Kasselheim_."

Lacus turned and left as quickly as she had entered.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation flagship _Chrysalis_, Southern Ocean

The _Chrysalis_ was the flagship of the Earth Alliance's fleet. It was over 350 meters long, sporting two enhanced positron cannons as its main weapons and a wealth of beam cannons and CIWS turrets for defense. And if the twenty gleaming Windams in the ship's considerable mobile suit bay were any indication, it was hardly an anachronistic throwback to the days where gigantic battleships had actual military worth. The _Chrysalis_ had been designed for the modern age.

Which meant it made sense for a man like Grand Admiral James MacIntyre, commander of the surface fleets of the Atlantic Federation— and by extension, the Earth Alliance— and foremost naval advisor to President Copland, to be standing on its bridge. He had not reached this lofty position by ignoring the winds of change— instead of sticking to his aircraft carriers and destroyers, he advocated an immediate embracing of the Alliance's new mobile suit technology, ensuring that within two years, the Atlantic Federation's entire fleet of _Spengler_-class aircraft carriers had been outfitted to carry mobile suits, and the rest of the Navy had been properly equipped to deal with enemy mobile suits.

Of course, as Ian Lee noted, this impressive résumé had taken its toll on the Grand Admiral. He was a stout, muscular man with a drawn, bronzed face half-obscured by a bushy gray beard. He met Lee's gaze with piercing onyx eyes, and granted him a curt nod— Lee, remembering where he was, replied with a sharp salute.

"Admiral," Neo said, saluting himself. "To what do we owe your message to meet you here?"

"I was told to relay orders to you in person," MacIntyre answered in a gravelly, agitated voice. "I suppose this has something to do with the Phantom Pain. Your orders are to protect the _William McKinley_ at Antarctica. They will be combat-testing the new GAT-X machines— High Command wants your unit there to make sure that they have a mothership to come back to."

"I understand, sir," Neo said. "Is our battle plan completed yet?"

MacIntyre gestured to the massive screen behind him. "There are fleets launching from Montevideo, Singapore, and Madagascar. We'll rendezvous just north of Berkner Island, where the ZAFT base is located. From there we'll trap them between the ice shelves and our fleet. They won't have anywhere to go but across the ice shelf and into the Antarctic wasteland, which is suicide. They have nowhere to run— it's the perfect place to launch an attack." He paused. "Of course, they'll be fully aware of this and will fight us tooth and nail, so don't expect an easy battle. We're going to have to pay our pound of flesh for every inch we take." He paused again, glancing at the screen. "Our intelligence suggests that if they fall here, they're prepared to move operations to the Falkland Islands, but we are confident that we can destroy most of their forces here and pick off the rest before they can return to space."

"This war is coming to an end," Neo said, with a hint of a smile. "Soon we'll be able to bring all our space forces down onto the PLANTs and finish the Valentine War."

"It's not over yet," MacIntyre said, turning away. "The difficult part is just beginning."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Southern Ocean

Mev sat back in his office, reading the slip of paper again. The _Megami_ was going to try and steal ZAFT's new machines from the _Minerva_, and had asked the _Kasselheim_ to come along and play backup. The crew didn't appear to mind— a job was a job, after all, and they appeared to have resigned themselves to having been sucked into the war anyway— but Mev wondered what the Orb Raiders were trying to do now. Orb had been all but destroyed. Cagalli was dead. What was left?

"Captain," Viima began, from her seat across Mev's desk, "I've been meaning to ask this for a while." Mev arched an eyebrow at her. "Why are you helping the Orb Raiders?"

Mev returned his gaze to the slip of paper. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You were a bodyguard to Uzumi Nala Athha," Viima said, "and you left Orb because you were disgusted with his arrogant policies. Isn't that so?"

"It is," Mev said. "What is your point?"

"My point is that we have been helping the very group whose leader was advocating a return to those same policies that drove you away," Viima continued. "Why?"

Mev looked back at the paper and crumpled it in his hand. "My story is far more complicated than that," he said. "It stretches back farther than Uzumi Nala Athha. I was embroiled in this play back in days of the Mendel colony."

"The Mendel colony?" Viima echoed. "You— "

"Worked there," Mev finished. "Security. However, I was involved in deep internal security, so I was in frequent contact with the researchers and their cloning and artificial womb projects." He paused, tossing the crumpled paper on his desk. "Dr Hibiki was a researcher involved in the artificial womb project, which was supposed to eliminate the mother's womb as a variable towards a Coordinator's genetics. With his wife, he conceived two children from this project. The first was a boy whose fetus was used to create the perfect Coordinator that Hibiki had been trying to create; the second was a girl who was born as a Natural. However, Hibiki's wife could not stand by and let her husband continue this project, as it was leading to the deaths of countless fetuses, and spirited the children away after their births, and put the two children under the protection of separate foster parents. The boy came to be known as Kira Yamato, and the girl as Cagalli Yula Athha."

Viima's eyes widened in disbelief. "You mean she was a foster child?"

"I left Mendel shortly before Cagalli was put in Uzumi's protection," Mev continued. "Uzumi hired me as a bodyguard and a connection to what was going on in Mendel. And you know the rest." He paused for a moment. "I knew Cagalli. I knew she was the same fool as her father. But those under her command were not, and it is in them that I have faith. They would have corrected Cagalli and given her the guidance she needed to keep Orb from getting burned down again, if she had managed to take the country. Now it is not Cagalli, but those who stood behind her, who are asking for our help. Cagalli was a fool who wanted to continue her father's arrogant policies. Her followers are fools all the same, but they are war-weary and are smart enough to keep whatever paradise they construct from being destroyed. It is them I am helping. Because we are all trying to create a haven of our own in some way— we have this ship. They have asked us and paid us to help them create a haven of their own. Now Cagalli can no longer interfere. I see no reason why not to continue helping them."

"But what does stealing ZAFT mobile suits have to do with that?" Viima asked.

"They have bigger plans than that," Mev answered. "They want to stop this war. And I think that is in everyone's best interest. If nobody stands between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, they will destroy each other in their hatred, and take the world with them. And then," he cast a glance and a strange smirk at Viima, "what will we have to steal?"

Viima nodded slowly. "Captain," she said. "I never pictured you as someone to fight for ideals."

"War does strange things to those involved in it," Mev said with a shrug, "whether they wanted to be involved or not."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Southern Ocean

The crew lounge was unusually silent. The transfer operation was complete and the _Minerva_ was speeding to the Antarctic base, with four new mobile suits slumbering in the hangar. Now there was nothing to distract anyone.

Meyrin sat on an empty couch, staring down at her feet, tears still at the edges of her eyes. Her sister was gone. She still couldn't wrap her mind around it. She could still remember Lunamaria waking up on the morning of the battle, rubbing sleep from her eyes and stumbling into her uniform, heading off to do battle and protect the ship, to protect her. She had always been there. She had always been the strong one, making the decisions, speaking for them both, protecting her. But now she was dead.

She looked up at the sound of footsteps, and found Vino looking down solemnly at her, a soda in hand.

"Um," he began awkwardly, "you alright?"

Meyrin nodded slowly, wiping the tears from her eyes. Vino slowly handed her the soda, watching her carefully.

"I'll be okay," she added quietly. Vino smiled at her.

"Just take it easy for a couple of days," he said. "We know how you're feeling. If you need to talk…"

"I'm fine," she said, a hint of a blush on her cheeks. "I just…need a little more time."

Vino paused, crestfallen. "Okay," he said, smiling back at her anyway. "I'll see you later, then."

He made his way around the couch and disappeared out the door. Meyrin looked down at the soda can in her hands. She wondered what Luna would think of her now— sitting here, moping, still crying two days later.

Luna had been the strong one, but now Luna was gone.

She looked up again, and caught a glimpse of Rey as he passed by. He slowly glanced at her, sending a chill down her spine with his cold eyes. She blinked in surprise— Rey! He had threatened her, and he had threatened Luna. And it had been him who had reported her in as dead. Had he— could he have really shot Luna down during the battle?

Meyrin watched Rey disappear behind a corner. The thought turned itself over in her head, and with a hint of a scowl, she crushed the soda can in her hand.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation

The delighted cackle of Lord Djibril filled the air in his screening room as he watched the footage of the Battle of Onogoro on the array of monitors before him. On an adjacent monitor, Joseph Copland watched in a mix of disgust and unease.

"ZAFT could not bring down even one Destroy!" Djibril laughed. "They will be crushed when we unleash five of them from Daedalus!" He clenched his fists dramatically. "We have only to crush them at Antarctica, and our Earth will be blue and clean once again!" He turned to face Copland. "Mr. President! You and I will have to travel to Daedalus soon! We have an army to lead to victory!"

"No, Djibril," Copland said flatly. "We will not pursue a war in space."

Djibril was silent for a moment. "We _what_?" he asked.

"We have nothing to gain by pushing ZAFT up against the wall," Copland continued, leveling a glare at Djibril. "I will not grind my country into dust fighting ZAFT on their home turf, when we would gain nothing from their destruction. This war has gone on long enough. I will not force anyone to make anymore unnecessary sacrifices. This war ends once we have pushed ZAFT off the Earth."

A wicked smile spread over Djibril's face. Copland paused in surprise.

"Mr. President," Djibril chuckled, "you assume that you are in control here. I could destroy you in an instant." He snapped his fingers. "Do not make the mistake, Mr. President, of assuming that you are indispensable. I do not _need_ you— I keep you where you are because you are yet useful. But you are not so useful that no one else can fill your function. Do not forget that— you can be destroyed, and if you get in my way, you will be." He made a grand, sweeping gesture. "We shall march to the doorstep of the PLANTs, and this time, we will not stop until they are destroyed!"

He swung around, ignoring Copland's disbelieving stare, and looking back up at the Destroy Gundam.

"With this," he cackled, "we will finally have a blue and clean world!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	38. Phase 38: What Goes Unsaid

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 38 - What Goes Unsaid

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 29th, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Southern Ocean

By now, it had grown cold enough to keep even Stella from venturing out onto the deck of the _Kasselheim_. It was just as well anyway— the sky was growing dark and the sea was turning gray, and she could not stand to see the ocean turned into a giant all-consuming field of ink. It was a little depressing, but she knew that the ocean wasn't going to be this way forever— after they were done with whatever they were doing here, they would go back to where the sea was once again blue.

She stared out the observation deck window instead, looking at the _Megami_. Shinn didn't seem to like the people on that ship— Stella wondered why. They hadn't been mean to her, except for that blonde girl. But the blonde girl had gone away— Stella wondered where she had gone. Maybe they had been mean to Shinn. She wondered why they would, but she couldn't think of any other reason why Shinn wouldn't like them.

Her thoughts found their way back to Sting and Auel. She wondered if they were okay. Of course they were— they were smarter than her. They always knew what to do. They wouldn't have been defeated. They would survive. Shinn wouldn't hurt them. And if she had to, she would protect them.

Stella glanced to the side as she heard the door open, and Miki waved excitedly at her.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked quickly, bounding up to her. Stella blinked for a moment and looked back at the _Megami_. "It's cold out here!"

"The sea…" she began haltingly. "It's dark…"

"We'll only be around here for a few days," Miki said reassuringly, "and after we're done we'll head back up north where the ocean's blue."

"…space," Stella said. "…we're going to space."

Miki blinked in surprise. "We are?"

"Shinn said," Stella added quietly. Miki looked over at the _Megami_ for a moment and sighed.

"Well, don't worry," she said, putting on a beaming smile. "We'll still go north to where the ocean is blue."

Stella smiled.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Southern Ocean

Lunamaria cast a wary glance down at the end of the hall, as she heard someone coming through. There were multiple footsteps— she figured the guards were coming for her again.

They hadn't mistreated her, she reflected. They had kept her adequately fed, the conditions weren't worthy of complaint, and she had been allowed eight hours of sleep a day. She wondered what these Orb Raiders had to gain by obeying the provisions of the Corsica Treaty, but she certainly wasn't going to give them the idea of stopping.

"Dearka," an angry voice said, "if you're not going to help me kick his ass, I'll do it myself, but he's going insane and I don't like it."

Luna peered down the hall— the blond man she had seen when she had first encountered Athrun was there again, walking next to a young man with silvery hair and a prominent scar on his face. She recognized him almost instantly— Yzak Jule, pilot of the -X102 Duel and son of the disgraced former Councilor Ezaria Jule. She remembered Shiho— she had served under his command.

The blond man, evidently called Dearka, sighed heavily. "If I thought it would do any good, I'd help you," he said, "but Athrun _is_ going crazy and the only way he's going to go back to normal is if he takes down the Freedom."

They paused in surprise, glancing at Luna as she listened intently to them.

"And what do you want?" Yzak asked brusquely, crossing his arms. Luna glanced between them.

"You were talking about Athrun," she began. "What happened to him?"

Dearka glanced at Yzak; he shrugged. "No idea," he said, "but if you've got any information on that FAITH unit in the white _Eternal_-class, feel free to share it."

"But did they really kill Cagalli?" Luna pressed on, as they turned to leave. Dearka glanced back at her in surprise.

"Yeah," he answered. "What's it to you?"

Luna paused— the image of Athrun Zala, cold and cruel, flashed back into her mind. "I want to help him," she said.

"_Help_ him?" Yzak echoed. "You got shot down by DaCosta, what help can you be?" Dearka snickered under his breath, despite his better judgment.

"We're not going to let you out of here that easily, if that's what you're thinking," he added. "Anyways," he went on, looking at Yzak, "let's go. Athrun's probably looking for us and staying in one spot for too long is a bad idea."

"Maybe you can bitch at him for us if he comes by," Yzak said to Luna as he and Dearka turned to leave.

They turned a corner and disappeared, and Luna settled back onto the thin cot at the end of her cell. Someone, the Freedom Gundam, had killed Cagalli Yula Athha…and now Athrun Zala was looking for revenge.

She wondered where Athrun was right now.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Southern Ocean

"Failure."

Lee watched with a hint of pride as Sting flinched in his chair, but did nothing. He had come a long way in a short time— the most Neo could do now was inflict a headache on Sting. Auel had come along nicely as well— Lee noted with a smile that they had both overcome the one thing that the Alliance had to stop them.

"I suppose," he said, "you're free to go now. Since nobody can stop you."

"We won't," Sting answered. "Not yet. We've got unfinished business here."

Lee nodded knowingly. Sting glanced at Auel; they both smirked.

"We'll protect you, though," Auel added. "Because you helped us."

Lee arched an eyebrow at them. "How, exactly, will you protect me?"

"We'll find a way," Sting said confidently. Lee studied him for a moment— they were both determined to have their revenge on Neo, on Lodonia, on the Alliance officers that had turned them into Extended. They were both more dangerous than Neo was giving them credit for. He sat back, sighing quietly.

"The war is almost over, no matter how the space campaign goes," Lee said. "What will you do then?"

"Let's worry about that when the time comes," Sting answered easily.

"We can take you with us if you want," Auel added.

Lee smiled sadly. "My family is dead," he said, "and I have nothing left from what I built for myself back home. The military, it seems, is going to have to be my life now."

"But they'll trace us back to you," Sting said, his smile fading.

Lee shook his head. Auel and Sting shared an uneasy glance.

"Why did you help us?" Auel asked suddenly.

Lee looked up at him. "Because you are humans," he said.

Sting and Auel shared another confused glance. "We're Extended," Sting began awkwardly.

"No," Lee corrected, "you are humans." He sat back. "I have commanded a ship with an Extended pilot before. He was an unstable soldier, much like Stella was. He was the pawn of scientists who were willing to go so far with their research as to destroy people, but he had a caretaker who treated him as her little brother, and suffered the scientists and their twisted experiments because it was too late to save him from it." He paused. "I saw that Extended as nothing but a weapon, like the scientists who experimented on him. I commanded him nonetheless, but the Alliance took increasing interest in him, sending a member of the Special Forces to supervise him. I saw so many people using him as a mere weapon. And I saw his caretaker, and their relationship. When my ship was finally destroyed, that Extended lay dying aboard my ship. His caretaker stayed with him to the end. I watched them die together, not as an Extended and a supervisor, but as two human beings." He looked at Sting and Auel, staring wide-eyed at him and listening intently. "I can see that Extended in you two. You are both humans, victims of circumstance and the machinations of your elders. I could not save that Extended from becoming a tool for his superiors, but I can save you two. And save you I shall."

"Captain…" Sting began.

"Promise me this," Lee went on, leaning forward. "I have lost my family, my life, my reason for fighting. Promise me that you will leave this war behind when your vengeance is complete, and find a life of your own. That will be my reason for fighting. You do not deserve to inherit a world of warfare and hatred. Promise me that you will find something to live for."

Sting and Auel nodded solemnly.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 30th CE 73 - ZAFT Antarctic base, Antarctica

As the mechanics unloaded the Destiny Gundam's weapons for inspection, Talia had to admit that Gilbert's servants had come up with an impressive machine. She was no expert on mobile suits, but she certainly could tell that with the number of hidden verniers, the speed with which the limbs could be moved, and the strange cylindrical machines to be found in every section of every limb, there was something about this mobile suit that set it apart from even its brothers, the Infinite Justice and Legend, standing next to it.  
"The -X20A Strike Freedom has been transferred to the _Deliverance_ as requested, captain," Arthur said at her side, as they both watched from a balcony near the back of the hangar. "The Alliance's attack is expected within the next three days, but these machines will not be ready for combat until January 1st."

"I see," Talia said. "Make sure the ship is ready for space combat, and ensure that our atmospheric booster is somewhere where we can safely attach it and get to space at a moment's notice."

"Yes ma'am," Arthur said, "but, um…" Talia glanced inquisitively at him. "Why are we carrying these mobile suits when there are no pilots for them?"

Talia looked back at the Destiny, as the mechanics opened its anti-ship sword and inspected it. "These mobile suits are ZAFT's last hope. The war's going to be decided in space— that's what these machines are for."

"But why did _we_ get sent to transport them?" Arthur pressed on. "I mean, we're a FAITH unit, aren't we?"

Talia's face darkened as she glared down at the Destiny. That thing was supposed to be Gilbert's gift to Shinn— why had he built it even though Shinn had left? She glanced at the Infinite Justice— a near carbon copy of the original Justice, with enough upgrades and design changes to merit a new model number— and the Legend— a machine in much the same situation as the Infinite Justice. On the _Deliverance_, slumbering in that pallid warship's hangar, was the Strike Freedom, a thinly veiled upgrade of the original Freedom. It was as if the war was turning back now to the final days of the Valentine War, with ZAFT driven off the Earth and standing before its homeland with GENESIS, with the Alliance and their nuclear missiles bearing down on them.

But, she added mentally, someone had yet to come between the warring sides and try to make them put their weapons down.

She paused, turning that thought over in her mind. These machines were power, power for someone who would make a difference in this war, power for someone who could stop these warring sides before they could destroy the world in their wrath.

"Give priority to preparing the Destiny for combat," she ordered suddenly, startling Arthur. "We'll worry about who pilots it later. I have a feeling we'll be needing it in the coming battle."

"Yes ma'am," Arthur answered quietly, shuffling off to carry out his orders. Talia gazed down stoically at the Destiny as the mechanics activated it, its green eyes illuminating the hangar with a flash.

_Your weapon is waiting for you, Shinn,_ she thought._ I hope you arrive to receive it._

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation

Lord Djibril cackled with delight as he watched the footage again. ZAFT's grand stronghold at Carpentaria had finally fallen— after a good threat to use nuclear weapons, of course. They had managed to debut a new model of mobile suit, and a single _Vosgulov_ submarine had managed to break through the blockade, but what did it matter? They had nowhere to go except Antarctica, and right now, the Fifth Combined Surface Fleet was gathering in the icy waters at the edge of the Antarctic Circle for the deathblow that would drive ZAFT off the Earth forever. In addition, the Alliance was ready to carry the momentum of its victory on Earth to space instantly, where ZAFT could not possibly be prepared for the full crushing weight of the Earth Alliance as it brought down the hammer.

"It's a glorious day, Admiral Seiran," Djibril said, casting a wicked glance at his companion. To the side in Djibril's screening room, Jona Roma Seiran stood numbly in his Orb uniform, staring almost blankly at the screens. It was a shame, Djibril supposed— Jona had just had everything taken from him at Orb. Even though ZAFT had been driven off, Orb had not come out well, and had been annexed by the Atlantic Federation for its sudden lack of government. Now Jona stood as a ruler without a country, and a general without any troops. But that could be solved— there was still Orb's meager space fleet, which could still prove to be useful.

He glanced back at the screen. The Earth Alliance forces were swarming over Carpentaria, like ants over the corpse of a dead bird, triumphantly leading away their ragged ZAFT prisoners. There was nothing more that Jona could do on Earth. But in space…

"I have a job for you, Admiral," Djibril said, turning around. "One concerning your old friends, the Orb Raiders."

Jona looked up with burning eyes at Djibril.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Southern Ocean

Mwu squinted in annoyance as he stood on a gantry overlooking the patch of hangar floor directly in front of the Akatsuki. A team of mechanics were building something down there— an elongated backpack colored in the Akatsuki's familiar gold, with three long vaguely cylindrical objects stretching off, and several mechanics constructing a fourth.

"Okay," Mwu said, glancing at Murdoch at his side as he flipped through a ream of papers on a clipboard, "I'll bite. What the hell is this?"

"Shiranui pack," Murdoch answered. "Space combat attachment for the Akatsuki. Since the war is bound to be moving to space soon, so will we, and the Owashi pack isn't going to be all that useful up there. And since you're going to be the Akatsuki's pilot now, we're installing a remote weapon system to take advantage of those spatial awareness powers of yours. There were some partial blueprints in the Akatsuki's computer, so we just filled them out."

Mwu looked back down at the Shiranui pack. "You're going all-out, huh?"

"It's the most we can really do," Murdoch said with a sigh. "All our upgrades and maintenance couldn't stop Cagalli from dying. The most we can do is try to bring everyone else home safe."

Mwu glanced up across the hangar, at a red ZAKU Warrior standing silently in a corner.

"What about the ZAKU?" he asked. Murdoch looked up at it as well and shrugged.

"We did a bit of polishing up, but it was in pretty good shape when we brought it in, all things considered," he said. "We'll probably sell it to the Junk Guild next time we meet up with them."

"What about the pilot?" Mwu asked.

Murdoch shrugged again. "I heard the captain was going to turn her over to the first ZAFT ship we saw," he said. "An insurance policy against future attacks or something, I guess."

"We're still running around with Shinn," Mwu pointed out, "and he's pretty much Public Enemy Number One in the PLANTs."

"Yeah, well, ZAFT's got better things to do now than chase around an emo kid with a stolen Gundam," Murdoch said with a shrug. He blinked in surprise as he looked down at the workers around the Shiranui pack. "Hey! What are you idiots doing?!" he shouted. "You install the receptor _before_ you connect the lines!"

A garbled string of curses that neither Mwu nor Murdoch could understand was the response. Murdoch sighed and edged past Mwu, storming towards the ladder down to the floor. Mwu looked back at the ZAKU and sighed himself.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

December 31st, CE 73 - Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, southern Ocean

Shinn wiped the sweat from his brow in annoyance as he stepped out of the Impulse's cockpit. One of the mechanics had been just careless enough to reset all of the Impulse's internal specifications to their default settings, leaving Shinn with an operating system that was not terribly different from when he had first been assigned the machine. This therefore meant spending hours on end resetting the Impulse back to his custom settings, which meant hours on end sitting in the cockpit, which was getting stuffier and muggier by the minute.

Grumbling about idiotic mechanics and resolving to check the Impulse's meager cockpit A/C unit, Shinn moved to step back into the Impulse and continue working when he felt a familiar presence approaching. He looked up and once again blinked in shock as he saw Lacus Clyne approaching. What did she want?

He paused as he realized that he was feeling a distinct pressure coming from her. That pressure could only be coming from one thing— he stopped in his tracks, watching her in disbelief, as he realized that Lacus was a Newtype.

"Oh my," Lacus said as she came closer, stopping and blinking in surprise. "You've been working hard."

Shinn shrugged and looked down at his sweat-soaked clothes. "Something like that." He looked back at her. "Do you want something?"

"Well, I didn't mean to interrupt you," she said apologetically.

"I can work and talk at the same time," Shinn said, taking a step back into the cockpit. He wondered why he was in effect inviting Lacus to talk to him— he had no reason to. But that calming aura of hers was underlining the typical pressure he felt from a Newtype, and he had to know if it was real.

She almost hesitantly followed him to the edge of the Impulse's cockpit, watching him for a moment as he settled back into the cockpit seat and got to work. "I do have a question for you," she said. "I know it will seem strange and I apologize for being so straightforward, but…" She trailed off, as if trying to choose words. Shinn looked up at her in surprise. "Am I a Newtype?"

Shinn regarded her carefully— she seemed surprised that his face betrayed no shock, but inside, he felt sure of it at last. Lacus Clyne was indeed a Newtype.

"Why do you ask?" he inquired carefully.

"I ask because I could feel Cagalli's death," she said. "I felt her presence vanish. I felt presences during the battle, all around me, vanishing. And when we buried Cagalli at sea, I could sense you." She took another step forward, leaning into the Impulse's cockpit to lend them some degree of privacy. "I'm asking you above all others because you are a Newtype, and you would know better than anyone else I can ask whether or not these powers are true or if I'm just going mad."

"You're not going mad," Shinn said guardedly. "Or else I am too." He studied her for a moment— her face betrayed no emotion, but her presence was that same strange cocktail of inner feelings. She was calming and soothing, but firm with purpose, all laced with the familiar pressure of a Newtype…and it was all faintly tinted by sadness. "But I think you're a Newtype," he said.

Lacus did not seem surprised, either in her facial features or her emotions. "Then what should I do with these powers?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Shinn asked back. "Since when are we supposed to do something special with our powers?"

Lacus turned that over in her mind for a moment and then smiled. "That is true," she said. "But without purpose, power is meaningless. Even your power has purpose— you use your power to protect what is important to you."

"That's no reason to go sticking my neck out for some higher ideal," replied Shinn.

"But you already are putting yourself at risk for the crew of this ship," Lacus pointed out.

Shinn looked down resolutely at the Impulse's cockpit panels. "That's different," he said.

"Is it?" Lacus asked. "We both want to do something with our power. Your strength comes in piloting mobile suits— there are few pilots in the Earth Sphere that can match you now. And you have used that strength to protect this ship."

Shinn looked back up at her. "That's because I _can_," he said flatly. "What I _can't_ do is run out onto the battlefield and change everyone's minds and make them stop fighting."

Lacus took a step back, seeming satisfied with that answer, although Shinn could sense she was still troubled.

"Well," she said, "I appreciate your answer to my question." She smiled warmly at him, and Shinn couldn't help but smile back thinly as she excused herself.

His smile vanished and he stared down angrily at the Impulse's control panel.

——————————————————————————————————————————**Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Southern Ocean**

"You've changed."

It seemed like a stupid thing for Lunamaria to say— she had never known this man, Athrun Zala, as anything more than a distant personality in newspapers and fragmented television clips. But now, standing before her, Athrun Zala was not the humble, dutiful hero of the PLANTs that she had thought he was. Right now, Athrun Zala was a shell, from which the human feelings of happiness and companionship had been removed, and into which a horrifying poison of revenge had been poured. Athrun Zala was hardly a human being anymore.

"You will be released to the first ZAFT ship we come across after the battle," Athrun said flatly. "In exchange, your mobile suit will be sold to the Junk Guild. Cause us no problems and we will cause you no problems."

Luna said nothing, staring in disbelief at the pale, angry face. He turned to leave— she reached through the bars of her cell door to grab his sleeve.

Athrun looked back at her in surprise. She paused, staring into his blank, burning eyes for a moment, before she summoned up the courage to speak.

"What happened?" she asked.

Athrun stared at her in annoyance for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"You've…you've changed," Luna repeated. "I know you can't have always been like this. Did Cagalli…?"

"Yes," Athrun said with a scowl, "Cagalli died." He turned away angrily. "And I will not let her death be in vain." He clenched his fists angrily. "I'll take him down…no matter what."

Luna looked on incredulously as Athrun trembled in rage. He looked back at Luna.

"It is my duty," he said, "to Cagalli…to destroy him." He pulled away from her. "I will not let her death be vain."

He turned and stormed away. Luna watched him go in disbelief.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Southern Ocean

The three new Gundams seemed to tower over the bridge tower of the _William McKinley_ as it steamed steadily towards Antarctica, with the _Girty Lue_ hovering overhead nearby. Neo Roanoke crossed his arms as he looked them over approvingly.

"We'll finally see them in action," he said with a smile. He glanced at the screen, with Rau Le Creuset's amused face on it. "And as for you?"

"ZAFT's got its own new models," Rau answered easily, leaning back in his chair. "Tomorrow should give us quite the slaughter."

"Of course," Neo remarked. "Then the war will move to space and we'll finally have our revenge."

"Just make sure to continue playing your part," Rau said. "It will all be over soon."

ZAFT would certainly pay for all it had done to him— the terror at Endiymon, the year of the hazy sleep of a coma, and the months of genetic restructuring to turn him into a Newtype. He had endured it all so that he could have his revenge on ZAFT, on the Coordinators, on those who tried to have his power without his burden.

His smirk flashed feral. His wait was almost complete.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Battlecruiser _Kasselheim_, Southern Ocean

Night had fallen and the _Kasselheim _and _Megami_ were nearing Antarctica when Shinn made his way onto the _Kasselheim_'s observation deck, staring out the windows at the night sky. It was dark and overcast, the moon tinted behind a veil of black clouds. Antarctica lay up ahead, while somewhere to the west, the Earth Alliance fleet was gathering for its final blow against ZAFT on Earth. After that, the only answer was to go to space.

Shinn looked up at a familiar presence, and found Kika rounding a corner with a smile. Before he knew it, she swept up next to him and pressed a kiss against his lips.

"Wha— " Shinn began to sputter. Kika put a finger to his lips to silence him.

"It's midnight, you dope," she said with a smile. "Happy New Year's."

Shinn blinked and consulted his watch, only to find that it was in fact midnight and it was now CE 74.

"The traditional thing to do on the stroke of midnight, New Year's Eve, is to kiss someone," Kika went on, grinning knowingly at Shinn. "Did you not have girls in ZAFT or what?"

Shinn blushed in surprise and looked away. "I didn't know that," he said quietly. Kika giggled and hugged him tightly.

"It's a good thing we didn't have a party," she said. "You need to learn to have fun, Shinn. You're too serious all the time."

Shinn shook his head. "I want to protect the ship," he answered.

"It's not about protecting people," Kika replied. "It's about having friends, making friends, caring about people. You can't be some superhero who defends us all from harm. That's not what we want you to be. You're one of us, and you always will be." She touched his cheek and pulled his attention back to her. "I know you're always careful and you always know you have to come back in order to protect us, but just promise me you'll remember all that when you're out there fighting tomorrow, okay?"

Shinn blinked at her. "I promised you before I'd come back," he said. "I'll come back. I'll protect you. I promise."

Kika smiled and kissed him again before he could protest. "I'll be waiting for you, Shinn."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	39. Phase 39: Those Who Live, Those Who Die

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 39 - Those Who Live, Those Who Die

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 1st, CE 74 - The Pentagon, Washington DC, Atlantic Federation

The war room was out of control as officers in the ubiquitous Atlantic Federation uniform scurried around tables and control panels, shouting orders and questions and just plain unintelligible nonsense at each other. From his position at the top of the room, watching a sprawling holographic map, Joseph Copland crossed his arms.

"Mr. President," one of the officers said, greeting him with a grim salute. Copland returned it, just as grimly. "The Fifth Combined Surface Fleet reports that it has begun combat. The Battle of Antarctica has begun, sir."

Copland eyed the map soberly. "I understand, colonel," he said. "Now all we can do is pray that this is the battle that ends this war."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT Antarctic Base, Antarctica

"The new models are on the _Minerva!_" Andy's voice shouted, as the Aegis Gundam charged across the battlefield, low over the snow. Inside the Impulse, Shinn glanced towards the sea— the Alliance fleet was smashing its way onto Berkner Island, Antarctica, and the ZAFT base there. The ZAFT fleet was struggling to hold them off, but the Alliance's unstoppable Destroy Gundam was back, stomping past the ZAFT ships and bringing its firepower directly to the base. Mobile suits swarmed in the air, as the Alliance warships unleashed volley after devastating volley on the ZAFT base.

Shinn grunted in annoyance. They hadn't even left him time to climb into his flight suit. It was going to be cold as hell out there.

"All units, split up!" Mwu ordered, as the Akatsuki flashed by overhead. "We have to locate the _Minerva_ and fight our way through all this chaos! _Go!_" The Justice Gundam wasted no time in peeling off and disappearing into the fray.

Shinn glanced over at the Gaia— she looked back at him wordlessly, and they peeled off to their assigned path. He glanced at the Destroy Gundam again— sooner or later someone would have to take it down.

"Shinn!" Stella exclaimed. Shinn turned his attention to the front, and the two Gundams took off.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Justice and Freedom slammed together, beam sabers throwing sparks, as the pilots screamed.

"_KIRA!_" Athrun shrieked, his dull, lightless eyes flashing, the Justice seizing both its beam boomerangs and hurling them at the Freedom. Kira scowled and cut them out of the air with his beam saber, backing away as they exploded. The Justice roared out of the smoke, lunging after the Freedom with a scream from its pilot. "_She was going to save you, Kira!_" Athrun shouted. The Justice and Freedom clashed, the Freedom deflecting the Justice's horizontal slash. "_SHE WAS YOUR SISTER!_"

"She betrayed me!" Kira snapped, surging forward and pushing the Justice back. Athrun scowled, drawing his beam rifle— Kira came back down with another beam saber slash, slicing the rifle in two. Athrun hissed a curse under his breath, abandoning it and drawing his beam saber. "You all betrayed me!" Kira charged forwards, firing a full weapons burst. Athrun ducked under the plasma cannon blasts, but the railgun shells slammed into the Justice and sent him staggering backwards. "We were going to fight together to make a new world! But I was just your tool! You just used me to destroy our enemies! And then _YOU KILLED FLLAY! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU, ATHRUN!_"

The clash of two beam sabers slamming together sent another ripple of energy up his spine, and Athrun Zala gunned the booster to charge. The Justice curled its fingers menacingly around its beam saber, and ahead of him, the Freedom seemed to tense, awaiting Athrun's attack.

The two Gundams burst apart, and Athrun fired back with a beam cannon burst. The twin green bursts of energy tore forward, but the Freedom deftly dodged, flipping upwards in midair and firing its plasma cannons. Athrun ducked aside, growling, and fired back again with his beam cannons before roaring forward at top speed, but the Freedom dodged again, and the two beam sabers met with a crash. Athrun let out a curse.

The Freedom rocketed forward, bringing its saber down towards the Justice. Athrun screamed back, deflecting the Freedom's blow horizontally.

"For all the people you killed!" Athrun screamed. "For Nicol and Cagalli! I can't forgive you, Kira! I won't let you kill anymore!" His eyes flashed. "_I'LL KILL YOU FIRST!_"

The two Gundams jetted apart, circling each other. Kira charged, brandishing his saber— Athrun lunged back towards him, and the two Gundams crashed together again, straining in midair against each other.

"I trusted you, Athrun!" Kira snarled. "I fought with you! I believed in you! You were my friend, Athrun! We were going to make the world better!" The Freedom kicked the Justice in the stomach, knocking it back— Kira took off after Athrun as he staggered back. "_WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME?!_"

"_I didn't kill Fllay!_" Athrun screamed back.

"_LIAR!_" Kira shrieked, the Freedom charging again. "_I'll send you to hell myself, Athrun! I promise you! I'LL KILL YOU!_"

He stabbed forward with the Justice's saber— Kira ducked under Athrun's saber, and with a scream, sliced off the Justice's arm at the elbow with his own saber. Athrun cursed under his breath, backing away to abandon his own shield and draw his remaining saber.

Kira brought his saber down— Athrun deflected it horizontally with a shower of sparks. Screaming, Kira smacked the Justice's arm upward, and with lightning swiftness, severed the Justice's left arm at the shoulder. Athrun's eyes widened in disbelief— before he could react, Kira fired a point-blank plasma cannon burst into the Justice's subflight lifter, blowing it apart. With a final devastating kick to the Justice's stomach, he sent Athrun careening out of the air, and with a shriek, went charging after him.

"I couldn't even scratch him!" Athrun exclaimed, easing up the Justice's dying engines and slamming into the ground at an angle, skidding to a halt in the snow. He popped the hatch and vaulted out of the Justice's cockpit, just as the Freedom landed and drove its saber into the Justice's back. Athrun broke into a sprint as soon as his feet hit the ground— the Justice exploded, and Athrun screamed as he went flying across the snow.

As he skidded to a halt, lying prone on the snow, he watched the flaming wreckage that was once the Justice Gundam burn. The Freedom straightened up, put away its saber, switched to its beam rifle, and took off. Athrun watched it go, tears in his eyes.

_I couldn't…I couldn't beat him…_ He hung his head, squeezing his eyes shut. _I'm…sorry, Cagalli…_

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_

The entire vessel shook violently, and with a crash, the door came off its tracks. Lunamaria looked on in shock as Fate gave her a second chance— she poked her head out into the hallway, finding no one paying attention.

Athrun was on this ship. He was fighting the Freedom Gundam. He was going to get himself destroyed. She had to stop him. She sprinted out into the hallway.

This was Athrun's ship; Athrun's home. She had to defend it.

Nobody stopped her as she rushed from the brig to the hangar. Her ZAKU, she hoped, was still there, but if not, there was bound to be something out there she could use to protect this ship. She could not return to ZAFT— Rey would be there waiting for her. She was dead to ZAFT. She had to make for herself a new home. And this would be where that home would be.

The hangar was alive with mechanics rushing around a handful of damaged mobile suits. Luna made for her ZAKU, succeeding in climbing into the cockpit and shutting the hatch. She activated the familiar systems— this was how she would help.

The hangar doors were opened. A screen opened up, showing an angry-looking girl with brown hair glaring at her.

"What are you— " She cut herself off, blinking. "You're the prisoner?" she murmured.

"Open the hangar doors!" Luna demanded. "I'm going out!"

"The prisoner got into her ZAKU?!" another woman, one with long darker hair, exclaimed, from what seemed to be the captain's seat. "Stop her!"

Luna steeled herself. "I'm joining the Orb Raiders!"

The two women on the other end blinked in surprise. "You're joining us?" the girl asked incredulously.

"Let me go out!" Luna insisted. "I'll protect the ship from below! Even if it's just one more gun, I can help!"

The captain glanced at someone off-camera for a moment. "We will discuss this later, then," she said curtly. "Open the door for her."

"But captain— " the girl protested.

"Just do it!" the captain ordered, turning her attention to something else. The girl sighed quietly.

"Opening the hangar doors," she said dourly. "If you try anything cute, we'll blow you to smithereens. Got it?"

Luna smiled. "Got it."

The center hangar door ponderously swung open— Luna narrowed her eyes and charged out, leaping off the edge of the catapult deck with a jet-assisted roar.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT Antarctic Base, Antarctica

Yzak blinked in surprise as the new machine registered on his sensors. It was certainly a Gundam, but like nothing he had ever seen— the thing was a black, blue-highlighted amalgam of the Strike and Blitz, with a pair of red and black wings and two green cannons slung underneath. It was charging straight at him— Yzak grunted and glanced over at Andy and Dearka's machines. Two more Gundams were coming towards them— one that looked like an overloaded Buster, the other a red machine with two anti-ship swords and a head crest similar to the GINN's. Yzak grunted in surprise as the new Gundam opened fire— he darted to the side, but the Gundam swept down after him with surprising speed.

"The Alliance has new models too?" Dearka exclaimed, as the Buster look-alike poured an entire squadron's worth of firepower in his direction.

"Our machines are getting too old," Andy grunted, dodging the red Gundam's beam rifle attacks and firing back. "Pull back!"

Dearka combined his guns and opened fire, hoping to provide a covering blast— the Buster look-alike deployed a translucent field from its left forearm, and deflected Dearka's shot harmlessly.

"What the hell was _that?!_" he cried. The Buster look-alike opened fire, smashing an array of beam shots through the Buster Gundam's armor. Dearka grunted in disbelief as the Buster's limbs were blown away and the engines were destroyed, and his maimed mobile suit plunged towards the ground.

"_Dearka!_" Yzak screamed, rushing to rescue him. A beam blast came at him from behind, blowing off the Duel's left leg— Yzak turned around, brandishing his beam rifle, only to see the black Gundam slash the Duel's right arm off with a beam saber, and deliver a punishing roundhouse kick to the Duel's stomach. It followed up with a pair of blazing red beam cannon shots from the green cannons on its back, blowing off the Duel's remaining arm and its head. Yzak ejected what was left of the Assault Shroud and braced himself, glowering at the image of the black Gundam as he fell.

"Shit," Andy grunted, as the red Gundam cut down the Aegis's beam rifle with its two anti-ship swords. "These things are just too new!" He dove backwards, avoiding a flurry of beam shots from the red Gundam— it charged forward with blinding speed, and Andy grunted as it severed both of his mobile suit's arms. He tried to transform in midair and fire a shot from his Scylla cannon— the red Gundam hacked off both his limbs and smashed the Scylla before he could fire, and with a final slash, the Aegis's engines gave out and the lifeless mobile suit went slamming down into the ground.

Andy grunted as he pulled himself out of the wreckage. "Dearka, Yzak," he said into his helmet's headset. He scanned the battlefield, and found them both trudging through the snow towards him. "Not one of our better showings, was it?"

"That was ugly," Dearka grunted. "Now what?"

Andy looked up at the Gundams, as they launched themselves at a squadron of ZAFT BABIs. "Well, I don't know about you two," he said, with a thin smile, "but I think I have a late addition to my Christmas list."

Yzak and Dearka glanced up at the Gundams, and smirked to each other.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn grunted angrily as a tornado of beam shots slammed against the Impulse's shield. He looked up at the incoming squad of BABIs and rocketed aside as they fired again— as they wheeled around for another pass, Shinn took the opportunity to shoot down two of them, and backed away as Stella hit the third from below.

"We're not getting anywhere like this," Shinn growled. A familiar sensation struck his senses— he turned around at the feeling, and glared at the approaching Freedom Gundam. "You again!" He clenched his fists around the controls. "Stella, leave this to me!"

The Impulse charged, firing its beam rifle. Inside the Freedom's cockpit, Kira narrowed his feral eyes— this thing would not beat him again. He skirted aside from the beam shots and drew his saber— Shinn drew his own as well, and the two mobile suits came together with a crash.

"Damn you!" Shinn snarled. The Impulse surged forward, raising its beam saber. Kira swung back, deflecting the blow and leaving both mobile suits pushing against each other helplessly.

"You won't beat me again," Kira snarled. "Not this time!"

The Freedom fired its booster, sending Shinn careening back. He ducked down to avoid another slash and then skirted aside to dodge a full burst. The Freedom was back in the Impulse's face a moment later, sabers clashed.

"He's gotten better!" Shinn grunted. "Did he underestimate me?!"

The Freedom roared forward, kicking the Impulse in the stomach. Shinn growled as the Impulse rattled, and glanced to his left— the _Kasselheim_ and her mobile suits were approaching.

"No! Stay back!" Shinn screamed. He fired the booster to attack the Freedom—

Kira narrowed his eyes at the approaching mobile suits. "I won't let you stop me!"

The Freedom wheeled around and fired a full burst at the _Kasselheim_'s mobile suits, slamming into them. Shinn watched in horror as Gan's GINN Assault was hit in the cockpit and went down in flames.

"You _BASTARD!_" Shinn shrieked, throwing the Impulse forward. The Freedom backpedaled and sent Shinn reeling back with a point-blank railgun burst. "_I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!_"

The Impulse charged again, bringing its saber down with a crash onto Kira's shield. The Freedom surged forward, throwing the Impulse back again.

A moment later, the Impulse shook violently, and Shinn stared in disbelief, as the Freedom slashed the Impulse's right arm off. With a disorienting kick, the Impulse went staggering down towards the ground— a screaming Kira followed at a breakneck speed, and a moment later, came driving down towards the Impulse for a killing stab. Shinn's instincts took over and he ejected the Core Splendor just as Kira slammed his saber into the Impulse's chest. As the Impulse Gundam exploded in midair, Shinn yanked back on the Core Splendor's joystick, pulling up and skidding to a halt in the snow.

He stared down in disbelief at the Core Splendor's controls. Kira Yamato had beat him so easily—

There was another explosion above him. Shinn looked up in disbelief as Chris's 105 Dagger was blown apart by a beam rifle shot from the Freedom. Zora's GuAIZ swept in behind the Freedom— it somersaulted over her head and took her down with a rifle shot to the back.

The Gaia landed next to the Core Splendor, but Shinn couldn't hear it— he stared in disbelief as it all came crashing down. Miki's GINN High Maneuver II drew its sword, charging towards the Freedom— it ran her through with its beam saber and kept going like nothing had happened.

"No…" Shinn murmured. "Stop…_stop it!_"

The Freedom charged at George's CGUE, shooting it down with a railgun volley as it tried to dive aside. The flaming remains of the CGUE went spiraling down to the Earth.

"Stop it!" Shinn screamed. He fell to his knees in front of the Core Splendor. "No…not again!"

The Freedom deposited a full burst into the _Kasselheim_'s prow, blowing it apart. The ship shook violently, thrown back by the blast. The Freedom lunged up towards the engines, drawing its beam rifle. Shinn reached out with a scream, his eyes wide with horror, straining to feel Kika's presence before it was too late—

The Freedom fired, and the _Kasselheim_ exploded.

Shinn stared at the fireball. He saw himself again on Onogoro in CE 71, standing before his dead family, standing before Mayu's burning corpse, the smell of death invading his nostrils, the sounds of battle muted, as everything came crashing down around him, as his world vanished in a blast of fire. He saw the wreckage of the _Kasselheim_ come falling down to the ground. He felt the familiar presences vanish— he felt Kika disappear.

And he saw the Freedom Gundam, watching the fireball impassively.

His blood boiled. The Freedom had taken everything from him again. It had killed his family, it had killed Mayu…and now it had killed the Mad Typhoons, now it had killed George, now it had killed Kika. It had taken away his life. Again.

His eyes flashed red— the seed burst before him.

"Stella," he said, clenching his trembling fists around the Core Splendor's controls.

"Sh-Shinn…" Stella murmured, her eyes filled with tears.

Shinn looked up— Stella's eyes widened, as the tears streamed down from his smoldering eyes.

"I need you to cover me," he said, his voice shaking in rage, "as I break onto the _Minerva_ and steal one of those new models."

"Wha— why?" Stella asked quietly, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.

Shinn scowled. "I am going to destroy the Freedom Gundam." His eyes flashed. "And this time, _no one will stop me._"

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, ZAFT Antarctic Base, Antarctica

"Headquarters reports that sector four has been lost!" Meyrin exclaimed, as the _Minerva_ quaked. Talia nodded grimly— things were falling apart faster than she had thought.

"Begin pulling back," she ordered. "Meyrin, recall the— "

"Mobile suit approaching!" Burt shouted. "It's the Gaia, and…the Core Splendor!"

"The _Core Splendor?!_" Arthur echoed. The main screen zoomed in— the Gaia was flying through them next to the diminutive Core Splendor.

"The Impulse was destroyed?" Talia murmured.

Inside the Core Splendor, Shinn screamed and opened fire with his machineguns.

"Stella!" he shouted. "Cut open the portside catapult for me!"

The Gaia took off, dodging a blast from the _Minerva_'s Tristans. Shinn's eyes flashed, as he swept down, spitting machinegun rounds at the _Minerva_'s missile launchers. He burst past the _Minerva_'s bridge, scowling. They had a new model in there— he would find it, he would take it, and he would destroy the Freedom with it. The Freedom had taken everything from him twice now— it would not live to do so again.

The Core Splendor came arcing around, firing again and taking out several of the _Minerva_'s portside CIWS emplacements. The Gaia swept in, drawing its beam saber, and impaled the _Minerva_'s portside Tristan. It slid down and plunged its saber into the hangar door, carving the armor open and blowing apart the internal mechanisms with a beam cannon blast. The _Minerva_ shuddered, and the Gaia leapt off with a rocket-assisted leap, as the portside armor slid off and tumbled down towards the ground.

Shinn arced around to slide into the _Minerva_'s hangar. The Core Splendor rocked violently as a CIWS round slammed into its engine— Shinn growled as the Core Splendor went spiraling and smoking down into the _Minerva_'s hangar. The CIWS guns took aim— Shinn let out a scream—

The Core Splendor went sailing into the _Minerva_'s hangar, skidding along the hangar floor in a shower of sparks. As it curved into the hangar bay, Shinn popped open the canopy, seizing his pistol and leaping out. He started sprinting towards the first Gundam he saw as soon as his feet hit the ground— before anyone could react, he had already reached the boarding platform.

"Shinn!" he heard voices shout. He whipped around, firing off a single shot— down below, Vino shrieked in pain and clutched his bleeding shoulder. Yolant rushed to his side, helping him— Shinn glared at them both through his ubiquitous tears, and leapt into the empty cockpit of the Destiny Gundam.

There was another crash as the Gaia forced its way into the hangar. The mechanics began to flee, as Stella pointed her rifle at the tiny figures.

"Back away!" she ordered over the Gaia's loudspeaker. "Back away or I'll shoot!" She glanced at the Destiny, as Shinn slammed the hatch shut. "Is Shinn okay…?"

"Just keep them occupied," Shinn snarled. His fingers flew over the Destiny's controls, bringing the Destiny online. He activated the machine in a flash— its eyes illuminated the hangar, and its Phase Shift flickered to life. He activated the Destiny with a growl, and it took a menacing step forward.

__

Down below, Shinn glanced at Vino and Yolant as they staggered away from the Destiny Gundam. He turned away— there could be no weakness now. Now he only had one thing to do. He turned, and the Destiny stomped towards the blown-out port catapult.

The Gaia stepped forward to take off first. On the screen, Stella glanced forlornly at Shinn, and with a burst of exhaust, the Gaia took off into the battlefield.Shinn gazed up into the sky as the Gaia launched. His family lay dead before him again on Onogoro Island; the _Kasselheim_ exploded again before his eyes; a surge of strength rushed through him; the Destiny Gundam took off with a flash.

A squad of BABIs rose to challenge the Destiny as it took off. Shinn narrowed his eyes at them and charged; the first fired its chest cannon at him, but Shinn batted the shot aside with his beam shield and shot it down with a beam rifle shot. The remaining three swept in behind him in mobile armor mode, but he took one down with a rifle shot and the other with the Destiny's left-hand palm cannon. At last he slashed the fourth in half with his beam shield. Bursting out of the smoke, Shinn stared down in amazement at the Destiny's controls.

_Such power_...

The sensors flared, and Shinn looked up.The Force Impulse was charging towards him, beam rifle blazing. In the cockpit, Aoma screamed as the mobile suit rushed forward.

__

Shinn scowled and took off towards the Impulse. The Impulse raised its beam rifle, but Shinn tore the Impulse's arm off at the right elbow with the Destiny's palm cannon, flinging it aside, and then ripped off the Impulse's head in one strike. With a final kick to the chest, the Impulse was sent spiraling back down to the ground.

Two columns of green energy flashed behind the Destiny, and Shinn turned to find the _Minerva_ firing its remaining Tristan and its Isolde at him. He stormed towards the wounded ship, shooting out the Tristan with his beam rifle and taking out the Isolde with a CIWS burst.

The _Minerva_ swung around, the Tannhäuser opening up to fire. Shinn unfolded the Destiny's long beam cannon and narrowed his eyes as the crosshairs passed over the Tannhäuser; he fired, drilling the shot through the positron cannon. The Tannhäuser exploded, forcing the _Minerva_ backwards, and Shinn watched impassively as the ship listed towards the ground.

Four more BABIs rose to battle to Shinn's right, with the Freedom itself at the lead.

"The Destiny has been stolen from the _Minerva_," Kira said. "Capture it at all costs!"

"Yes sir!" the pilots shouted. The BABIs stormed forward, firing their weapons at the Destiny.

Shinn swung around and fired the long beam cannon.The BABIs disappeared in a flash. Kira scowled in frustration and drew the Freedom's beam saber, rocketing towards the Destiny. Shinn drew the Destiny's anti-ship sword, retracting the beam cannon, and charged up towards the Freedom.The two mobile suits met with a crash; both pilots screamed; the Freedom and Destiny's wings snapped open. The Freedom surged forward, pushing the Destiny back, and Kira raised his saber for a finishing blow, but Shinn smacked the saber aside and slashed the Freedom across the face.

__

The Destiny attacked again, and Kira dove backwards, drawing the Freedom's beam rifle. Shinn snorted in disgust, and the Destiny tore the beam rifle out of the Freedom's grasp with a palm cannon blow. Drawing his saber again, Kira tried to dive over the Destiny's head and cut it in half, but the Destiny swung around to smack the saber stroke aside.

The Freedom charged again, but the Destiny rammed it with its shoulder, knocking it back. Kira tried to slash the Destiny in half horizontally, but Shinn knocked the saber aside with his beam shield and swung the sword again, slamming it against the Freedom's shield. Growling, Kira dove backwards, dodging two sword strokes, and fired his plasma cannons and railguns. The Destiny deployed its beam shield.

__

The shots exploded against the beam shield. Kira watched tensely as the Destiny was consumed in a pall of smoke. The Destiny burst out of the smoke, sword upraised, and Shinn glowered back down at his enemy.Charging again, Shinn let out a yell as the Destiny slammed its sword against the Freedom's shield, knocking it backwards. He followed with a horizontal slash that Kira barely dodged.The Freedom swung its saber again in a downward hack; Shinn caught the blow with his sword and smacked the Freedom's saber arm and shield aside. Kira's eyes widened—

With a shriek of torn metal, the Destiny slashed off the Freedom's left arm at the shoulder, its left railgun, and its left leg at the knee. An instant later, Shinn smashed its face with a roundhouse kick, and as the wounded Freedom tried to deploy its remaining guns, Shinn hurled a beam boomerang to slice them all in half. He caught it on the rebound, reattached it to his shoulder, and charged, sword upraised. Kira barely stopped it with his beam saber. Shinn snarled in rage and tore off a chunk of the Freedom's right-hand shoulder armor with his palm cannon, and with a final kick, pushed the Freedom away again.

Down below, Valentine's ZAKU Phantom landed with a crash, and Valentine looked up at the Destiny thrashing the Freedom.

"Kira!" she shouted, revving the engine to take off again. A wave of beam blasts came streaking out of the heavens to cripple her ZAKU and send it staggering back into the snow, and with a frightful crash, the Gaia landed before her maimed machine. It landed before her and pointed its beam saber combatively at her._  
_Standing on a snow bank, Athrun Zala watched the Destiny and Freedom impassively.

The damaged Freedom, throwing sparks and smoke, dove away from the Destiny as it swung its sword furiously.

"This can't be...!" Kira gasped as the Freedom was rocked by another kick. The Destiny charged again, slamming its sword against Kira's saber.

"Stop running!" Shinn screamed. "You killed them, now you have to deal with _ME!_" The Destiny punched the Freedom across the face, and charged with its sword upraised; Kira barely deflected the blow, and twisted to the side when the Destiny swung again. "It's all your fault!" Shinn screamed. Shards of the Freedom's left wing went flying as the Destiny kept up its furious attack. "You killed them all!" Kira dodged three more slashes and blocked one more sword stroke. "_YOU KILLED THEM ALL!_" The Destiny and Freedom remained motionless in midair, glowering at each other. "_IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!_" Shinn shrieked.

The Destiny surged forward, pushing the Freedom back; with a yell, Shinn charged again and Kira once again barely managed to block the slash.

"_IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT I'M LIKE THIS!_" The Destiny responded with a kick to the Freedom's chin. "_IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT I HAVE TO SUFFER!_"

Another sword stroke landed against the Freedom's beam saber.

"_DIE ALREADY!_" Shinn screamed, and gunned the booster, pushing the Freedom forward, and kicked it in the face again.

The Freedom swung its saber back at the Destiny, but a third kick knocked it back once more. Kira's eyes widened in disbelief as the Destiny backed away, gearing up for a finishing attack.

"**_I'LL KILL YOU!_**"****Shinn screamed, his teary eyes flashing.

__

The Destiny, brandishing its sword, activated its beam wings with a flash, filling Kira's field of vision with the glimmering translucent wings. Kira struggled to keep up, but the Destiny moved in a blur of afterimages, flashing around him, diving and twisting and circling.

Shinn saw his opening and screamed in fury; Kira's eyes bulged in shock—the Destiny sliced the Freedom in half at the waist—

The Freedom Gundam exploded.

Amidst the smoke and debris, Shinn Asuka sat inside the cockpit of the Destiny Gundam, panting for breath, staring with dull, empty, angry, teary eyes as the smoldering remains of the Freedom plummeted to the earth.

At last he broke down and cried.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Gaia Gundam set down near the wreckage of the _Kasselheim_; the Destiny knelt near it, and Shinn was out in the snow, staring at the debris.Stella lowered herself to the ground and started after Shinn, but she stopped as he fell to his knees in front of the wreckage of the _Kasselheim_.

"I couldn't..." Shinn murmured to himself. "I couldn't protect..."

Stella started again towards Shinn uneasily, as he stared with wide, bloodshot, clouded eyes at the ground in front of him._  
_"I couldn't protect...any of you..." Shinn murmured. "I...couldn't protect...any...anyone..." He trembled painfully, balling his fists and squeezing his burning eyes shut.

Shinn threw his head back and screamed at the sky. Stella watched him with tears in her eyes.

At last, Shinn collapsed forward, onto his hands and knees, his tears falling to the snow, as he pounded the ground in despair. Stella raised her hands to take hold of his shoulders; Shinn screamed again; his fists slammed into the ground.

"Shinn," Stella said at last, kneeling next to him and touching his shoulders. "Shinn's being scary..."

Shinn looked up with bleary, bloodshot eyes at Stella; she blinked in surprise and recoiled in fear."I'm sorry, Stella," he whispered; she hugged his shoulders again and tried to pull him back to his feet. "I'm sorry...I...couldn't..."

Shinn sobbed in Stella's arms, grabbing her by the arms and burying his face in her shoulder. "I'm sorry!" he screamed. "I couldn't protect them! I couldn't protect _anyone!_"

Stella held him close, looking down as he wailed and screamed into her shoulder. "But...Shinn will protect Stella..."

"I was too weak," Shinn moaned. "I couldn't beat the Freedom until it was too late! And now...and now they're all gone!"

Stella pulled him away far enough to look into his cloudy, teary eyes. "But Shinn will protect Stella," she repeated, tears in her own eyes. "...Stella doesn't wanna be alone."

Shinn blinked in surprise as Stella hugged him tightly. "St-Stella..."_  
_"Stella wants to be with Shinn," she said quietly. "If Shinn will protect Stella...then Stella will protect Shinn."

"Stella!" Shinn sobbed, hugging her again. "I couldn't protect them, Stella! I'm sorry!"

"Shinn's sad," Stella said softly. "Shinn is always sad." Shinn blinked and looked up at her. Stella touched his cheek, and smiled through her tears. "Shinn shouldn't always be sad."

Shinn hugged Stella and squeezed his eyes shut; Stella rubbed his back and pulled him back to his feet.

They both began to walk back to the Destiny Gundam, as it knelt over them, watching everything silently.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The red ZAKU Warrior landed before Athrun with a crash, and knelt down, extending its hand. Athrun blinked in surprise, finding Yzak in the extended hand, and Dearka and Andy in the other.

"Come on!" Yzak shouted, extending his own hand to Athrun. "She's taking us back to the ship!"

"…she?" Athrun asked blankly.

"That ZAFT prisoner," Yzak filled in testily, "Lunamaria. We're leaving. Now get on here or we're going without you!"

Athrun pulled himself up into the ZAKU's hand and watched the cloud of smoke that had once been the Freedom impassively. He had no doubt that it had been Shinn, in that Gundam with the wings of light, that had destroyed the Freedom. It had been Shinn that had exacted revenge on Kira. He, Athrun, had failed.

He felt the tears stinging his eyes for the first time, and at last, he sat down, trying not to cry.

——————————————————————————————————————————  
The battle was coming to its deranged conclusion, whatever that conclusion was. ZAFT was crumbling, again. The Earth Alliance was resurgent, again. Shinn didn't care. With Stella behind him, he rocketed forward in the Destiny, scanning furiously for a way out of the madness. He had to escape, _they_ had to escape, before anything more could happen to them.

Up ahead, Shinn saw the Destroy Gundam smash a _Compton_-class land battleship with a beam cannon volley. He narrowed his eyes at it— beyond it lay the Alliance flagship, and after that, relatively open ocean. He clenched his trembling fists around the Destiny's controls.

"Wait here, Stella," he said. "I'll take care of that thing."

Before Stella could protest, he took off towards the Destroy.

The Destroy Gundam, in attack mode, leveled off its back cannons to fire at another land battleship. Shinn shot by, extending his beam wings and drawing his anti-ship sword, and cut the cannons' barrels off. The base of the cannon exploded, and he whipped around, as the Destroy staggered. It launched a bevy of missiles— Shinn felt a strange new sensation, as energy surged through him. A white bolt cut the air before him— the missiles veered up, away from the Destiny, and went plowing back into the Destroy, striking the missile launchers and blowing them apart.

Shinn sat speechless, staring at the destruction the Destroy's own missiles had caused it.

_Is this…the power of the Destiny?_

The Destroy transformed to its mobile suit mode— Shinn scowled and charged, brandishing his anti-ship sword. The Destroy ignited a beam saber on the end of its forearm, bringing it down with a crash— Shinn screamed and deflected the saber with his sword. He ducked under a barrage of beam cannon shots and took off, leaving a blur of afterimages behind him.

The Destroy fired its chest cannons— Shinn snarled angrily and smacked the shots away with his beam shield. The Destroy stomped after him, firing another wave of beam cannon shots. Shinn took off again, letting the afterimages fill the air, as the Destroy fired madly into the sky. He dove down, as the Destroy continued to try and shoot down afterimages, and charged up into the Destroy's face, slashing the chest cannon out with his anti-ship sword. The Destroy went reeling backwards as the cannon exploded, and Shinn rocketed away, another trail of afterimages swarming around the Destroy.

Even while wounded, the Destroy opened fire again with its finger cannons. Shinn scowled, dodging as the Destroy poured its firepower after him. He charged towards the Destroy's left knee and then skirted aside— the Destroy fired its finger cannons through the afterimages left there and blew off its own leg, sending it toppling backwards. Shinn scowled, charging at the Destroy's cockpit. It raised its left arm to stop him— screaming, Shinn cut it off and slashed the cockpit open, depositing a long range beam cannon shot into the wound.

The Destroy vanished in a thunderous explosion. Shinn backed away, taking off overhead.

"Stella, come with me!" he shouted, taking off over the cloud of smoke that was once the Destroy, taking off overhead with the Gaia in tow. A squad of Jet Windams came roaring at him, beam rifles blazing— Shinn skirted aside, sending their shots plunging through a trail of afterimages, and slashed them apart with one sweeping swing from his anti-ship sword.

The Destiny and Gaia took off into the sky together.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Valentine watched angrily as the ZAFT soldiers swarmed over the wrecked cockpit of the Freedom Gundam. Shinn had defeated their warrior— she only prayed that there was something left to salvage.

"We need a medical unit over here!" one of the soldiers shouted. A team of soldiers with a stretcher came running up. The soldiers at the Freedom's ravaged cockpit struggled with something, depositing it on the stretcher, and as the medical team returned, Valentine looked on in horror at Kira Yamato.

His left leg below the knee was gone; his arm had been blown off at the shoulder; the left side of his face was a charred mess of blood and burnt flesh; the rest of him was covered in scars and blood.

The medical unit raced away. Valentine watched them go in disbelief, and looked back at the ruins of the Freedom Gundam.

She remembered the Destiny Gundam, and her eyes flashed with anger.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	40. Phase 40: Regeneration

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 40 - Regeneration

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 2nd, CE 74 - ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Southern Ocean

A hiss cut through the air, followed by the click of metal and the hum of machinery. Valentine stood expectantly behind a glass wall, arms crossed, watching impassively.

The maimed and bandaged Kira Yamato was in surgery. Bionic attachments covered blackened stumps that had once been flesh. Kira was motionless as the final attachment was made to the charred hole that had once been his shoulder. He had failed; this new body was the price he paid for that failure.

They were attaching Kira's mechanical left eye with Rau arrived.

"I see our weapon needs some repairs," he remarked amusedly.

To counteract the pain, the doctors had given Kira massive doses of tranquilizers, and Kira lay unconscious on the operating table, unable to feel metal attachments being drilled into his bone and his nerves being welded into bionic receptors; he twitched momentarily they screwed the final optical nerves into his new eye and eased it into the empty hole that had once held a living eye, but then settled back into his morbid slumber. The operating doctors and a number of elaborate thick straps held him down, lest he wake up and tear open the wounds that had required only stitches and bandages, and not mechanical replacements, to heal. Valentine watched emotionlessly as Kira was remade.

"Who did this?" Rau asked. Valentine glanced at him.

"Shinn," she answered. "He stole the Destiny from the _Minerva_."

Rau smiled. "Didn't I tell you he'd be formidable if he ever got a hold of it?" He turned to leave. "Inform me when he's released."

Valentine remained behind, watching as the doctors attached Kira's new left leg, a skeletal metal limb that made for a stark contrast against his scarred and bandaged right leg. Shinn had been the one to do this indeed. But Shinn, powerful as he was, did not present the greatest threat to Kira. Shinn didn't know Kira. Shinn could not break her hold over him.

Shinn was not Kira's enemy.

One of the doctors at last came out, as the others inside began to pack up their tools, leaving Kira lying on the surgery table.

"We're finished," the doctor said soberly. "So far the operation appears to have been a success. We will wait twenty four hours to begin testing out the limbs and the range of motion. He should be able to resume his usual duties in a week or two."

"Does he remember anything of the battle?" Valentine inquired.

"I don't think so," the doctor said with a shrug, "but we haven't conducted any psychological examinations."

Valentine nodded grimly and brushed past him, making her way into the surgery suite. Kira lay on the operating table, connected to a tangle of wires and IV tubes. His mechanical leg, arm, and eye were still. His breathing was haggard, raspy, and pained.

"Kira," she said, her voice soft. Kira cracked open his remaining eye, dulled with pain and fatigue. "How are you feeling, Kira?"

Kira moaned quietly, sleep clinging to him like a fog. Valentine wiped away a stray tear the pain had brought forth.

"It's over now, Kira," she said soothingly. "Now you can rest."

Kira groaned again and raised his hand towards her, but paused at the sound of mechanical servos. He raised his right hand into view— his remaining eye widened in fear. He slowly at up, staring at his hands and his new leg; he felt his face and looked up slowly, in horror, at a mirror across the room— he saw himself covered in bandages and scars, with a red hexagonal sensor in the place of his left eye.

He looked in disbelief at Valentine.

"W-why…?" he whispered chokingly.

Valentine took him by his still-flesh shoulder. "The Freedom was destroyed, and you were wounded," she explained. "But your lost body parts have been replaced."

Kira looked down at his mismatched hands.

"Who…did this…to me…?"

Valentine looked into his remaining eye.

"Athrun," she answered.

Kira was motionless.

"Athrun…" he murmured.

"You need to rest," Valentine said, soothingly and conclusively. Kira lowered his arms, staring blankly at the ceiling. Valentine departed with a kiss, and Kira was left alone with his pain.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Southern Ocean

It was damned cold on the bridge of this ship, Lunamaria decided. Granted, she was still standing in her ZAFT undershirt and a pair of blue jeans she'd been given when she was first captured and it was decided that her flight suit was not exactly suitable attire. But she had to make her case— otherwise it meant being cast adrift in a world controlled by the Earth Alliance, and that was obviously not an option.

"Miss Hawke," the captain, Murrue Ramius, said skeptically, draping one leg over the other and staring Luna down. "You told us yesterday that you wanted to join us. We're willing to entertain the notion, but there is one question we'll want an answer to first." She paused. "Why do you want to join us?"

Luna felt her heart sink. How could she explain her reasons here, when they hardly made sense even to her?

"Because she feels safe here," a voice spoke up.

Luna and Murrue looked in surprise up at Lacus Clyne as she took her seat above Murrue's captain's chair.

"Um, yeah," Luna added, mentally smacking herself. "I had some…problems with comrades in ZAFT…if I went back now, he'd try to kill me again, like he tried to at Onogoro."

Murrue blinked in surprise. "What?" she asked. "A comrade tried to _kill_ you?"

"I'd rather be here," Luna continued, "now that I'm dead as far as ZAFT is concerned."

Murrue glanced at Lacus; she nodded and smiled at Luna, who stared back at her uncertainly.

"Are you willing to fight against your former ZAFT comrades if need be?" Murrue asked, glancing back at Luna. She nodded.

"She can be trusted, captain," Lacus put in. Murrue sighed.

"Alright," she said, standing up and extending a hand towards Lunamaria. "Welcome aboard, Miss Hawke."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Penguin Island, South Shetland Islands, Southern Ocean

It was cold, but Shinn Asuka didn't care. He couldn't feel anything anyway. The Destiny, kneeling with the Gaia on a bluff on a tiny island among an array of not quite as tiny islands called the South Shetlands, just north of South America, stood in a silent vigil over him. Shinn stared out south, towards Antarctica, towards the grave of the Mad Typhoon Gang.

Shinn dared not close his eyes— he knew he would see the Freedom cutting down the Mad Typhoon mobile suits again, the _Kasselheim_ exploding again. He felt empty, staring out at the empty horizon. He had destroyed the Freedom, he had destroyed Kira Yamato…but that didn't fill the void in his heart. It had all been taken from him again. He couldn't protect them. He had failed.

Stella sat down next to him with a bottle of water, watching him carefully. He looked slowly at her, remembering that she had gone with him. Her eyes were puffy and red— she had been crying too. The Freedom had taken something from her too.

"I'm sorry," Shinn whispered. Stella blinked in surprise at him. "I…I couldn't protect them."

Stella said nothing, looking out at the sea. It was true, they both knew— Shinn had promised, so many times, to protect them all.

"Shinn is still sad," Stella observed quietly. Shinn nodded slowly, staring out sullenly at the horizon. "…Stella wants a home," she added.

Shinn said nothing, his eyes blank.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Southern Ocean

Repairs on the fly were harrowing and probably unwise, but Talia saw no other choice. ZAFT had no more terrestrial bases at which the _Minerva_ could be repaired. The survivors from Antarctica, as well as some bedraggled troops from around the world who now looked more like refugees than soldiers, had come together at the Falkland Islands to set up a temporary staging area, where they could launch themselves to space and rejoin ZAFT for its final offensive there. But there was probably an Alliance fleet sweeping down on them right now, and Talia did not want to spend anymore time on a hostile Earth than she had to. The _Minerva_'s space booster was already attached— it was only a matter of repairing the damage and getting off the Earth.

She heaved a sigh, glancing to the starboard side. There was a _Vosgulov_-class submarine there, the _Kyrgyzstan_, waiting patiently as the Infinite Justice was guided out into the submarine's hangar. High Command was insisting on keeping the new models split up between ships, so they could be safely transported to space without fear of being stolen, like the Destiny.

Her thoughts returned to the battle from the previous day. Shinn had stolen the Destiny after all, making a dramatic show of breaking onto the _Minerva_ and a just as dramatic show of breaking out. He had destroyed the Freedom Gundam, ZAFT's ace up the sleeve, with relative ease. And he had easily destroyed the Earth Alliance's hitherto unstoppable Destroy Gundam. Shinn, when armed with the Destiny, was truly unstoppable, even more so than a giant mobile suit with a bunch of beam cannons. The Alliance had as much to fear from the Destiny as ZAFT did.

She glanced out at the bow of the ship. The repair crews were making excellent progress— they had replaced most of the destroyed missile launchers and CIWS turrets, and were working on replacing the Isolde and repairing the _Minerva_'s devastated prow. The portside catapult was a bit uglier, but it too was being repaired, as well as the two Tristans. As it stood, the ship was hardly combat-worthy, but there were two requisitioned _Kaskirov_-class supply submarines floating to port to provide supplies and maintenance crews. Being in FAITH had its perks.

Talia cast a weary glance over her shoulder— Arthur was still arguing over schedules with the captain of one of the _Kaskirov_ subs. She sighed again— she would probably have to straighten that out. But for now she was content to let Arthur handle things— he was going to have to learn to do things without her holding his hand, anyway, and now was a relatively good time to start.

Returning her attention to the bridge windows and what lay beyond them, she scanned over the horizon. The _Minerva_ was moving at sixty percent speed, enough for the _Kaskirov_ subs to keep up. A number of other ships and submarines were filing past, heading for the Falkland Islands, where their crews and mobile suits could find passage off the conquered Earth. Granted, much of ZAFT's strength already lay in space and the forces from Earth that managed to return to the PLANTs would be of little consequence, but it was at best a psychological placebo— they had failed on Earth, but they could have another chance in space. At least the war in space showed some promise— ZAFT had a far more solid position and far stronger forces in space, while on Earth, it had claimed two bases and small, overstretched forces.

Of course, she thought, the Orb Raiders were still loose.

Her thoughts turned to the mysterious black dreadnaught, the _Megami_. By all reports, Cagalli Yula Athha had died at Onogoro, so now the Orb Raiders were probably being led by Lacus Clyne. And if the past was any indication, she would probably be working to play in this role a similar one as the role she had played in the Valentine War.

_And that,_ she thought, _is why you have the Destiny, Shinn_. She glanced down grimly at the Infinite Justice as it descended into the _Kyrgyzstan_'s hangar. _Use your power and put an end to this war before it destroys us all._

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Southern Ocean

"What the hell is that?" Yzak asked testily.

Yzak and Dearka were hunched over a terminal in the crew lounge, with Andy sitting comfortably in the chair and smirking at the screen. Emblazoned on it were images of the Earth Alliance's three new Gundams— for now, Andy had settled on calling them Units 01 through 03, although they probably had more verbose names in reality.

"Never go into a battle unprepared," Andy said with a chuckle. "Sai intercepted some Alliance communiqués about these things. They're the Alliance's latest GAT-X machines, and they're on a _Spengler_-class called the _William McKinley_. You might recall it as the flagship of the Atlantic Federation's contribution to the Eurasian forces during the Black Sea War."

"Are we really going to steal them?" Dearka asked, arching an eyebrow at Andy.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Andy chuckled. "Of course we are. It's better than stealing someone's Murasame and flying it around instead. We need all the pilots we can get in the field, and thus, we need all the machines we can get our hands on." He paused. "Besides, it's not like it would be the first time you stole two something from the Earth Alliance."

Yzak glanced over at the crew lounge's other computer terminal. Athrun was there, glancing over an intercepted ZAFT message concerning another of their new units. Mwu and Lunamaria were at his side, listening intently as Athrun outlined a plan to them. He blinked in surprise, noticing Lunamaria in a white and blue Orb uniform.

"Well," Dearka said, "we'll have to do it, but how will we get in? It's not like you can just waltz onto an Atlantic Federation aircraft carrier."

"The Earth Alliance is moving this carrier through the South Shetlands," Andy explained. "It'll pass by King George Island tomorrow to lie in wait for a ZAFT submarine passing by Bridgeman Island." He gestured to the map as he spoke— a tiny archipelago of islands resting just north of the Antarctic peninsula, with King George Island in the general center, and tiny Bridgeman Island floating between it and the farther-flung Elephant Island to the east. "The _Megami_'s doing a full burn to get there by tonight," Andy continued. "Tomorrow we'll infiltrate the _William McKinley_ while it makes anchor north of King George Island." He glanced over his shoulder. "Meanwhile, our friend Athrun there will be waiting on Bridgeman Island with Mwu in the Akatsuki and Lunamaria in the Strike Rouge. The ZAFT submarine the _McKinley_ was going to ambush is carrying one of ZAFT's new models— Athrun is going to steal it while Mwu and Lunamaria provide cover."

Yzak and Dearka blinked, looking at each other and then Lunamaria.

"When the hell did you find time to plan this all out?" Dearka asked incredulously.

"I'm a grown-up, Dearka," Andy shot back with a smirk. "It's what I do."

Dearka rolled his eyes. "Well then, _dad_," he answered, "how exactly are we going to 'infiltrate' this thing?"

Andy sat back, still smirking. "We'll leave that to our good friend Murdoch," he said. "He's got a new toy in the works. In the meantime, get your flight suits and some weapons, and then get some food and sleep. We're moving out at 0400."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

PLANT airspace, Lagrange Point 5

As Gilbert's shuttle approached, he could not help but admire the great massive structure of Messiah, looming in the distance. It was an almost alien structure, massive and elegant— a dark, gray asteroid with three towers at the top and a single long spire stretching down off the bottom. It was studded with artificial constructs, and surrounded by three massive rings that housed the mobile fortress's intricate beam shield system. But the main weapon, the construct that drew even Gilbert's attention, was the massive metallic dish built into the asteroid's surface— the NEO-GENESIS system. The secret weapon that the Alliance would never see coming when they inevitably tried to land the deathblow.

He sat back, smiling in spite of himself. He had no real reason to be smiling, really. The Earth Alliance had destroyed ZAFT's last terrestrial stronghold, and the temporary staging area in the Falkland Islands would likely not survive the inevitable Alliance assault. The most valuable of the Destiny Mobile Weapon Gundams, the Destiny itself, had been stolen by the boy, the mere boy, for whom it been built. He had destroyed Rau's little pet and the Freedom Gundam— he had wiped out the Alliance's Destroy Gundam. The Alliance was mustering fleets in space at its Daedalus Crater lunar base, for what could only be a final assault on the PLANT homeland. And there were other things going on there, things that ZAFT's intelligence network could not quite ascertain— something was being built at Daedalus Crater, and there was a strange structure already built and hidden at the Daedalus Crater base. And then there was the Alliance's recent interest in a number of abandoned colony wrecks at Lagrange Point 2, and the secretive work they had been doing there that ZAFT still could not decipher. But now there were four segments of destroyed O'Neill-type colonies marshaled at L2.

Of course, that wasn't all of too much concern…because it was now a matter of hours until Solomon's Sword was complete. It had yet to be truly tested, of course— the initial internal tests indicated that it would be able to fire, but they wouldn't know for certain until they actually fired it. But that was out of the question. The Alliance could not yet have any inkling that ZAFT even had this weapon in its hands, much less any idea of how powerful it was.

Gilbert noted with interest as a _Nazca_-class loomed up ahead with the growing ZAFT fleet, equipped with the distinctive equipment of the Neutron Stampeder. He sat back, his smile fading.

Solomon's Sword was indeed powerful, as he had predicted…but it was not enough. He had to stem the tide of the Earth Alliance and weaken it— if he destroyed the Earth now, the Alliance fleet in space would come crashing down with all the ferocity of a man with nothing to lose. He had to weaken them first, turn them on each other…and then strike at only the opportune moment.

He glanced at his laptop. An idea struck him, and with a smile, he picked it up, opened a word processor, and set to work.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Earth orbit

Sting stared out the observation deck windows, down at the Earth below. So much had happened, so many people had died there. Stella was probably still down there. The Gaia had fled with that new unit that had come out of the _Minerva— _the Alliance guessed that it had been stolen. But it had taken down the Destroy Gundam almost effortlessly.

He had a feeling that it was Shinn who was piloting that thing.

Sting looked out towards Antarctica. Lee had told him their purpose for leaving for space already— they were going to rendezvous with an Alliance _Marseille III_-class transport carrying a new weapon. Once that new weapon was secured, the _Girty Lue_ and a force of Windams being brought aboard the transport would join the _Girty Lue_'s mobile suits and an Alliance patrol group in ambushing the Orb Raiders as they made their way to space. Neo had said that they were a dangerous unknown, and it was better to remove them before they caused any problems.

Of course, that was what Neo had said.  
Sting glanced to the side at the sound of the door opening, and found Auel drifting through, looking annoyed. He made his way up to Sting, still looking unsure of his footing.

"Man, zero gravity sucks," he grumbled. "I miss being able to, like, walk around." He rubbed his shoulder painfully. "And that hour of physical training every day _really_ sucks."

"If we didn't do it, our muscles would atrophy," Sting explained.

"That doesn't stop it from sucking ass," Auel shot back.

"Being too weak to move when you're on Earth or a colony would suck even more," Sting pointed out. Auel sighed in annoyance and steadied himself on the railing, glancing down at the Earth.

"So the war's gonna be over soon, huh?" he asked, glancing at Sting. He nodded dourly.

"That's what the captain said," he added. He looked at Auel. "Why?"

"I wanted to know what we were going to do," Auel said. "After the war…"

"…they'll send us back to the lab," Sting finished. He glared down at the Earth. "But we're not going back."

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****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, South Shetland Islands, Southern Ocean

Night was beginning to fall, but that was not stopping Athrun Zala as he worked on furiously on the battle plan. He had before him a massive schematic of a standard _Vosgulov_-class submarine, deck by deck, trying to figure out the best way to get in and get to the hangar, where the new model was being kept. He had to have that machine— that machine meant power, power to do something in the world. He could not sit idly by and watch as the country Cagalli died for was destroyed anew by the two warring sides.

He didn't look up at the sound of the door to his room opening. Lunamaria stepped in quietly, looking over his shoulder at the screen uncomfortably for a moment.

"What is it?" Athrun asked, not turning to face her. Luna blinked in surprise.

"I was…wondering if it's really okay for me to pilot the Strike Rouge," she said.

Athrun stiffened for a moment. "Your ZAKU can't fly," he said, "and the Akatsuki alone cannot provide cover while I steal the new ZAFT model. We don't want to weaken the Murasame force protecting the _Megami_. The Strike Rouge is usable, so it's yours to pilot."

"But it was Cagalli's," Luna added. "Are you sure you want me to pilot it?"

Athrun was silent. Luna took a cautious step towards him, unsure of whether she had upset him.

"Cagalli," Athrun began slowly, his eyes closed, "would tell you to use it."

Luna blinked in surprise. At last, Athrun looked up at her.

"Cagalli would not want it to go to waste," he said, although Luna could easily see that he was trying to restrain himself. "Cagalli would…want you to help us."

Luna looked down at him sadly as he turned back towards the blueprint of the _Vosgulov_.

"I'll bring it back in one piece," she offered. "I promise. I…know it must be important."

"It's only a mobile suit," Athrun said neutrally. "It doesn't mean anything compared to the pilot."

He gazed silently at the _Vosgulov_ schematics. Luna watched him for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak, but could not think of anything meaningful to say, and so walked away sadly.

Athrun said nothing.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Southern Ocean

One hand was flesh, but the other was metal. As Kira's eyes, mismatched themselves, traveled up his new arm, he continually compared the right arm to the left. There were muscles and tendons on the left, but on the right, there was just a cold metal cylinder with a thick red cable running up from the wrist to the elbow joint. It was the same on the upper arm, running up to a curved piece of metal covering the shoulder joint.

He looked at his legs, similarly mismatched. He looked in the surgery suite's mirror— again his face did not match. He stared back at his eyes, one a usual pool of violet, the other a red field with a single black line to serve as his pupil. He reluctantly closed his right eye, peering only through the artificial left eye, but found no difference. He looked over himself— covered in scars, with a long, hideous one over his left eye, and a shorter, tighter scar on his right cheek. There were bandages and scars all over his remaining arm, his chest, his legs…

Athrun had done this to him.

He clenched his metal fist, staring down at it. There was no feeling— it was as if there was really no arm there. But he could still move it all the same. He wondered what piloting a mobile suit would be like. Athrun could not have robbed him of his power. He was going to use his strength to change the world and make it right, to make Fllay's death mean something. Athrun would not take that away from him.

Kira got to his feet unsteadily, struggling to stay balanced. He could not feel a left leg beneath him, but two legs supported him nonetheless. He struggled into his uniform, settling for draping his shirt over his shoulders, and stepped out determinedly and slowly forward. Walking could be done, he decided, but it would never feel natural again.

He made his way out of the infirmary, walking slowly and steadily towards the hangar. He had heard about a new model being kept on this ship— he had to see it.

The crewmembers in the _Deliverance_'s hallways parted, watching him in disbelief as he marched towards the hangar. He ignored them— they didn't matter. He came to the hangar at last, stepping resolutely through the locker room, and into the mobile suit hangar itself.

Towering in the hangar brace once occupied by his old Freedom Gundam was a new machine. It looked similar to the Freedom, but it had a different set of wings on its back; it had two beam rifles instead of the Freedom's usual beam rifle and shield; it had some kind of beam cannon installed in its stomach.

"What are you doing out here?" a familiar voice asked. Kira turned slowly, finding Valentine walking towards him in surprise. "You're supposed to be resting."

Kira looked up at the new machine. "Is that…mine?"

Valentine followed his gaze up at the face of the new Gundam. "Yes," she answered. "The -X20A Strike Freedom. It's your new machine to replace the Freedom."

Kira's remaining eye darkened in rage as he remembered his defeat. "Athrun…" he murmured. "Did I…kill him too?"

"We found the Justice's wreckage," Valentine said carefully. "It looks like he probably was killed, but that's no reason to assume."

Kira scowled. "If he survived," he said quietly, "then…I will kill him."

Valentine smiled. "Yes," she agreed, "you will."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 3rd, CE 74 - King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Southern Ocean

The Underwater Recon Sled, as Murdoch proudly called it, was little more than a six-meter modified torpedo with the ordnance removed. A large metal dome had been mounted on the tip, with a crude piloting station set into the hull. A number of handgrips surrounded the hull near the dome. It had taken probably about ten hours to build, and yet it was only going to ram its way into a weakly-armored hatch and allow its three occupants to pour into the opening before it could be closed.

As a handful of mechanics moved the thing out into the shallows, Andy, Yzak, and Dearka, dressed in their pilot suits and flak jackets, toting several firearms each, all covered in plastic wrapping to keep the water out, stood off to the side, waiting. The _Megami_ had activated its Mirage Colloid and was lying in wait in case anything went wrong during the attack on the _William McKinley_. However, with a roar, the Akatsuki and the Aile Strike Rouge went streaking off out of the range of the Mirage Colloid, flashing into existence overhead and taking off for tiny Bridgeman Island several dozen kilometers to the east. Andy watched them go with a thin smile; they, on the other hand, were on their own.

"Yzak, Dearka," he said, turning to face them. "Let's go."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	41. Phase 41: The Orb Raiders

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 41 - The Orb Raiders

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****

January 3rd, CE 74 - Atlantic Federation _Spengler_-class aircraft carrier _William McKinley_, King George Island, South Shetland Islands

The hatch burst open with a crash, and a roaring wave of icy seawater gushed into the tiny access tunnel. A large metal dome smashed its way through the opening, and three figures crawled through the ship's hull, climbing to their feet. Three tall figures in Orb flight suits; one in white and black, one in red and gray, and one in black with yellow, stylized tiger patterns.

Andy glanced back at Yzak and Dearka, opening his helmet's visor as they did the same. "We'd better get going quickly," he said. They took off at a sprint down the tunnel, ducking past a heavy bulkhead as it ponderously swung shut, and took refuge behind a tangle of pipes as they checked their weapons.

"They'll probably only close one compartment," Andy went on, glancing around the corner. "If we really need to, Dearka can set the sled off from here and cause a nice distraction, but right now crashing it into the hull should be more than enough."

"We know all that," Yzak hissed. "Let's go already. We still have to get up to the hangar."

The three Coordinators took off at a sprint, removing the safeties on their weapons.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Bridgeman Island, South Shetland Islands

"It's unescorted," Mwu noted dourly, as the Akatsuki crouched on the eastern side of Bridgeman Island, while the ZAFT _Vosgulov_ glided past on the western side, surfaced.

"But why are they surfaced?" Luna asked, as the Strike Rouge glanced up over the ridge at the submarine. "The Alliance could spot them easily from here."

"There are too many underwater hazards," Athrun put in, standing on the ridge between the two mobile suits. "This isn't the open ocean, so sunken ships and underwater geography can get in the way." He shouldered his assault rifle. "We should get going soon."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Mwu agreed with a smirk. "Leave the mobile suits to us. You concentrate on not getting killed in there."

Buckling up his flak jacket, Athrun jogged down to the shore and plunged into the water. Mwu glanced over at Luna.

"Well, Miss Hawke," he began, "I suppose this is where we'll see what you're really made of." The Akatsuki glanced back at the submarine and unfolded the wings of its Owashi pack. "Leave the really tough enemies to me. Your suit's too old to do anything really intense."

Luna nodded dourly, closing the visor of her new blue Orb flight suit. "I'm still going to make myself useful," she said.

"I didn't say you wouldn't," Mwu replied with a knowing smile. "Come on, we have some fun to have."

The Akatsuki and the Strike Rouge took off with a flash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Penguin Island, South Shetland Islands

Shinn glanced to his left as he heard the far-off sound of an explosion. He stood up, squinting and stretching his extended Coordinator vision as far as it would go, but all he could see was a tiny puff of smoke on the horizon.

"A battle…?" Stella asked quietly.

Shinn ignored it, sitting back down. Whatever it was, it didn't concern him, and it couldn't possibly involve anyone he had left to protect. The only person he had left now was Stella— and she was standing here, right next to him.

He went back to staring resolutely at the horizon.

Stella glanced out towards the tiny cloud of smoke, hearing the faint rumblings of another explosion, and for a moment, she thought she saw the flash of a beam.

_A battle…?_

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation _Spengler_-class aircraft carrier _William McKinley_

Another soldier went down with a scream as Yzak leapt out from behind the cover of a heavy metal crate to squeeze off a shot, sending him backwards with a bleeding bullet hole in his forehead. Yzak ducked back behind the crate as the soldier's angry comrades opened fire, and the bullets went bouncing wildly off the rapidly-denting metal surface.

"They sure have tight security here," Dearka grunted as he hefted his own rifle.

"They must be learning," Yzak grunted.

Andy rolled out over his shoulder to open fire again, forcing the soldiers at the other end of the hall to back away. Dearka took the opportunity to leap to his feet, pulling loose the pin from a grenade and hurling it down the hallway. The three Coordinators ducked as a thunderous explosion wiped out the remaining guards. Andy ducked out, and Yzak and Dearka followed him as they advanced down the blasted-out corridor.  
Two doors were blown open with relative ease by a bandolier full of charges that Yzak had strapped over his shoulder. The three Coordinators leapt apart as another wave of rifle fire tore down the hallway— Dearka sent another grenade clattering to the soldiers' feet, and with another blast of fire, they were gone and the invaders continued on their way.

An Alliance soldier came lunging out from behind a corner with bayonet drawn, and before anyone could react, dug the blade deep into Andy's left arm. He grunted as the soldier yanked hard to the side, sending the arm clattering aside— the soldier stared in disbelief as Andy brought a hidden rifle to bear and cut him down.

Yzak and Dearka stared in disbelief at the smoking gun that was Andy's left arm.

"You have a _gun_ in there?" Yzak asked incredulously.

"_Awesome!_" Dearka exclaimed with a grin. "I want one!"

Andy picked up his fallen left arm and casually reattached it. "Well, get your arm blown off and we'll see what we can do," he said easily. "Come on, let's go." He took off at a jog down the corridor.

A still-disbelieving Yzak and a crestfallen Dearka were right behind him.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Vosgulov_-class submarine _Kyrgyzstan_

Athrun charged forward like a rhinoceros, perforating a squad of ZAFT guards with assault rifles held in both hands, and lunged past the soldiers before they had even hit the floor. Another group of soldiers opened fire again down the hall— Athrun ducked down, rolling over his shoulder and taking down the next four guards out with another double-rifle burst. He keyed open the door and lunged in, before ducking under more bullets and firing back.

"Commander," Athrun said into his headset, as he took cover behind in a doorway. "I'm going to need some distraction."

In the sky above the _Kyrgyzstan_, inside the Akatsuki, Mwu growled as the Akatsuki took another hit to its shield from a GOUF Ignited's bazooka. "Well, you'll have to give me a minute," he grunted. "The _Kyrgyzstan_ is better equipped than we thought."

Athrun scowled and paused to fire back at the soldiers down the hall. "What's wrong?"

"They're packing GOUFs," Mwu answered, pausing himself to duck beneath a flurry of beam bolts and fire back with his beam rifle. The targeted GOUF deflected his shots with its shield, backing away. "Luna's getting swamped and I can't take them all by myself."

Athrun cursed under his breath. "Just one hit to rock the ship will do," he said. "I'm getting close."

"Alright," Mwu said, pulling back behind his shield. "One hit it is."

The Akatsuki wheeled around, letting the beam bolts strike its golden armor uselessly, and fired its high energy cannons down at the _Kyrgyzstan_'s hull, sending two plumes of fire billowing up off the ship. Deep inside, Athrun lunged forward as the ship quaked, lancing forward and mowing down the ZAFT troops as they struggled to keep their balance.

"That should do," he said quickly. "Hang on a little while longer. I might need Luna to launch another attack."

"If you say so," Mwu replied, as the GOUF circled around him, drawing its beam sword.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Southern Ocean

As the pilots rushed towards their mobile suits, forgoing flight suits for the sake of urgency, they stopped short inside the hangar, finding Rey's white ZAKU Phantom, the Impulse, and the Savior still being repaired, and hardly in any condition to fight. Shiho cursed under her breath.

"We'll have to send _someone_," she said. "The Orb Raiders are attacking the _Kyrgyzstan_."

Rey glanced across the hangar. "I'll take the Legend," he said.

Shiho blinked in surprise. "The Legend?" she echoed. Rey glanced up at the dark mobile suit, glowering ahead soullessly. "But that's the new unit!"

"We have no other choice," he answered curtly. Before Shiho could protest any further, Rey took off at a sprint for the Legend.

Rey scowled as he leapt onto the boarding platform, raising himself up towards the Legend's cockpit. Shinn had stolen the Destiny already. He had taken Gil's finest machine, his greatest work of art. He had power now, power to stop Gil, power to stop fate itself. He could not be allowed to keep that power.

The Destiny was fast, but it could not have gone far.

Rey strapped himself in and activated the Legend. Its Phase Shift came to life, its eyes lighting up a menacing green, and the Legend stepped forward towards the starboard catapult.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation _Spengler_-class aircraft carrier _William McKinley_, King George Island, South Shetland Islands

It had taken the most powerful charge Yzak was carrying, but the final bulkhead towards the hangar had at last been blown open, and the three yelling Coordinators burst their way into the hangar with a spray of gunfire. The mechanics fled as the guards took cover— Dearka sent a smoke grenade hurling into the center of the hangar, and it blew apart into a monstrous cloud of dark gray fog. The soldiers hacked and coughed as Andy, Yzak, and Dearka closed their visors and plunged into the haze, beating their way through any soldiers in their way. The three attackers leapt onto the boarding platform, raising it up to the gantry connected to the three new units.

"These things are nice," Dearka said with a whistle of approval.

"Time to see just how nice they are," Andy said. "Let's go!"

Yzak, Dearka, and Andy leapt into the three open cockpits, slamming the hatches shut as soldiers came streaming onto the gantry, opening fire. Their bullets ricocheted uselessly as the three Gundams' Phase Shift armor came to life.

"Calypso?" Yzak read, as his machine stepped forward, smashing the gantry. He hefted the beam rifle and glanced over his shoulder. Dearka's new Judicator and Andy's new Mustang came to life with a flash. An array of beam cannons on the Judicator took aim, and with a thunderous roar, Dearka blew open the _William McKinley_'s hangar hatches. Yzak and Dearka turned their beam rifles on the Windams parked in the hangar, blowing them apart one by one. At last, Dearka fired a final blast with the Judicator's chest cannon, piercing the _William McKinley_'s insides. The Earth Alliance troops below fled as the three Gundams took off with a flash of exhaust.

"Gotta hand it to the Alliance," Andy said approvingly. "These are some nice machines."

"Let's just get the back to the _Megami_," Yzak said testily. "We can still beat Zala."

"Oh, I'm sure Athrun's making his own fun," Dearka chuckled.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Vosgulov_-class submarine _Kyrgyzstan_, Bridgeman Island

Athrun grunted as he hit the floor, discarding the empty assault rifle in his left hand and skidding along the smooth metal, picking off three more ZAFT guards, before vaulting back to his feet and sprinting across the _Vosgulov_'s locker room, snaking through the door before it could close. He paused, finding himself in the hangar, and looked up— across the way was the imposing form of the Infinite Justice Gundam.

Unfortunately, between him and it were a few dozen less than enthused ZAFT guards and mechanics.

Athrun hid behind a stack of crates as the firing began. He couldn't last here forever, not vastly outnumbered. There had to be some way to take out groups of these guards at once.

"Lunamaria!" he cried into his headset. "Give me some cover! Open fire on the _Vosgulov_'s roof!"

"What?" Luna's garbled voice shouted back. "But where are you?"

"I'm in the hangar!" Athrun growled, as a stray round slammed into the wall a little too close to his head for comfort. "Hurry up! They've got it fortified!"

"But you're in there!" Luna exclaimed. "What if I miss— "

"It doesn't matter!" Athrun cut her off. "I trust you! Just fire!"

Luna was silent for a moment. "Alright," she said, "here it goes!"

There was nothing but the gunshots of the ZAFT troops for a moment…and then came a massive green beam, slamming down through the roof and into the floor. Athrun vaulted over the crates and took off running as another beam came down through the roof nearby. The ZAFT guards, too panicked from the beam shots ripping through the ceiling, could pay him no mind as he sprinted across the hangar. Another beam came down behind him, blowing something up— Athrun ignored it, lunging forward towards the boarding platform. He whirled around as it ascended, pumping round after round at the panicking soldiers below, and then leapt backward into the Infinite Justice's open cockpit, abandoning his assault rifle. The hatch closed with a slam— Athrun strapped himself in.

With a flash from its eyes and Phase Shift, the Infinite Justice came to life and tore its way out of its brace.

"Commander, I've secured the new model," Athrun said. "ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice. Open one of the vertical launch tubes."

As Athrun secured the hangar with murderous bursts of CIWS fire, a beam saber came tearing through the central catapult's door. As the door slammed down onto the hangar floor, Athrun positioned himself in the catapult. He scowled and took off with a flash.

There was a burst of exhaust, and a moment later, the Infinite Justice burst out of the _Kyrgyzstan_. Up ahead, the three remaining GOUFs stopped in disbelief, staring at the Infinite Justice— Mwu took the opportunity to shoot down two of them with the Akatsuki's high energy cannons, while Luna swept in to flank and destroy the third. Athrun turned, activating the Infinite Justice's subflight lifter, and fired a full burst from the lifter's beam cannons and the Infinite Justice's beam rifle into the _Kyrgyzstan_'s battered hull. With a thunderous explosion, the ship broke in two and began to sink.

"That's a hell of a machine ZAFT built," Mwu remarked. "Am I glad we got a hold of it."

"Let's go," Athrun said quickly, "before any reinforcements arrive."

The three Gundams turned to leave, but the beep of the Infinite Justice's sensors stopped them. A wave of beam fire flashed through the air in front of the three mobile suits— Athrun snapped his attention in the direction of the attackers.

"One mobile suit!" Luna exclaimed, consulting the Strike Rouge's sensors. "But this…I've never seen it before…"

"What is it?" Athrun asked quickly. Another wave of green beam shots came streaking in— Athrun growled and swung the Infinite Justice's shield into position, activating the beam shield. The shots slammed against the translucent energy field harmlessly.

"That must be a new unit too!" Luna exclaimed.

Athrun looked up ahead, magnifying the image. The approaching machine was different— it resembled the Providence, but with a redesigned backpack, a new beam rifle, and strange blue armor plates over its hands.

Across the way, inside the Legend Gundam, Rey scowled, feeling the presence of the man who could only be Athrun Zala. He narrowed his eyes at the Infinite Justice.

"Split up!" Mwu shouted. "It's three on one! We can handle this!"

The Infinite Justice took off backwards, firing its beam cannons. Rey snorted in disgust, smacking the shots aside with his beam shield and firing back with a beam cannon barrage from his DRAGOONs. Athrun grunted in surprise, deflecting the shots with his own beam shield, and pulled back. The Legend took off after him with a beam rifle volley; Athrun skirted aside, firing back with his own rifle.

"Dammit," Athrun grunted, "doesn't this thing have any specialty weapons?"

"You have lurked on the edges of the world for too long," Rey growled. "You have no place in Gil's new world!"

The Legend vaulted up into the air, showering the Infinite Justice with beam shots. Athrun growled and took off along the ocean, the Legend in hot pursuit.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, King George Island

The Calypso, Judicator, and Mustang landed with a crash next to the _Megami_, as it shed its Mirage Colloid and opened its hangar doors.

"We got here before Zala did," Yzak remarked with a smirk.

"Not that it matters," Dearka said quickly. "He's probably having more fun."

"It's about time you three got back," Murrue cut in. "Get those things locked down already. Some new ZAFT model is attacking Athrun's group."

"What?" Andy exclaimed. "Another new unit?" He cursed under his breath. "Yzak, Dearka, let's go!"

The Calypso, Judicator, and Mustang rushed into the _Megami_'s hangar, and the black warship slowly rose off the surface of the water, the engines coming to life with a flash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Bridgeman Island

Mwu's Akatsuki opened fire with a beam rifle volley, but the Legend easily skirted aside and returned fire with a withering beam cannon barrage. The Akatsuki staggered backwards under a hail of beam blasts. Athrun swept in from behind, beam boomerang blade activated, but the Legend effortlessly somersaulted over the Infinite Justice's head. Athrun whipped around to face Rey, but the Legend drew a beam javelin with its left hand and activated it with a flash. Athrun scowled, drawing his own saber, and charged.

"Commander! Luna! Flank him!" Athrun shouted. The two Gundams came together with a shower of sparks, beam sabers clashing. Mwu and Luna moved in from behind, beam rifles raised.

"That won't stop me!" Rey snapped, angling the DRAGOONs to open fire at the two attackers. Mwu yelped in surprise as the shots drove the Akatsuki back; Luna screamed as the shots slammed against the Strike Rouge's shield.

"Luna!" Athrun cried. He fired the Infinite Justice's thrusters, screaming; Rey's eyes flashed, and with a punishing kick to the stomach, he knocked the Infinite Justice backward. A white bolt split the air; Rey whirled around, beam javelin at the ready, and deflected a downward beam saber hack from the Strike Rouge.

Rey narrowed his eyes at the feeling of a familiar presence. "You're…Lunamaria!" He scowled. "You survived after all…but I'll correct this error!" The Legend fired its thrusters, pushing the Strike Rouge back. "You don't belong in this world!"

The Legend came streaking forward, beam javelin pulled back for a killing blow. Luna struggled to regain her balance; she looked with wide, terrified eyes at the approaching Legend, and squeezed her eyes shut.

_Someone…help me!_

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Penguin Island

There were more tiny slivers of green light on the horizon now. The battle at Bridgeman Island had intensified. Shinn watched it emotionlessly, feeling nothing to invest in it. Everything was gone— there was no reason to care any longer.

"Stella wants to help Shinn's friends," Stella said quietly.

Shinn slowly looked up at Stella. "We…don't have anymore friends," he said quietly.

Stella looked out towards the horizon, looking unsatisfied.

Shinn stared soullessly at the faint scenes of battle. There was nothing—

_Someone…help me!_

Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief as a white bolt of energy crackled before him and he heard a voice he swore he recognized. It was Luna— but how? The feeling returned— Luna was there, fighting, struggling, scared. Shinn leapt to his feet. She was out there— she needed him, or else she would die. He had to go to her; he had to protect her.

"Stella," he said, "we're going."

Shinn whirled around and sprinted towards the Destiny, pulling himself up into the cockpit and activating the Destiny in a flash. The Destiny and Gaia leapt into the air, taking off.

"Are we going to help Shinn's friend?" Stella asked quietly.

Shinn narrowed his eyes at the horizon. "Yeah," he answered, "we are."

He clenched his fists around the Destiny's controls.

_Hang on, Luna,_ he thought. _I'm coming._

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Bridgeman Island

The beam javelin came down, but never found its mark— Rey scowled in anger as the Akatsuki floated between him and the floundering Strike Rouge, blocking Rey's javelin with its shield.

"You…you perversion of Rau!" Rey snarled, jetting backward to attack again. His senses flared— he fired the DRAGOON cannons backward, slamming their shots against the charging Infinite Justice's beam shield and sending it staggering back.

"Damn you," Mwu grunted, scowling at a feeling similar to Rau. "You're not Rau! What _are_ you?!" The Akatsuki charged, drawing one end of its double beam saber, and brought it down on the Legend's beam javelin with a crash. "You aren't killing anymore of us, you goddamned Rau wannabe!"

The Legend surged back towards the Akatsuki, trying to stab forward with its javelin. Mwu deflected the blow with his shield— Rey slammed the Akatsuki with a devastating kick to the stomach, sending the Akatsuki flying. The Infinite Justice came streaking in from behind— Rey cut the engine, lunging into the Infinite Justice's face and slamming it head on, sending Athrun careening backward. Rey whirled around, deflecting a volley of beam shots from Luna's Strike Rouge.

"Athrun and this mockery of Rau are as dangerous as you," he said with a scowl, "but you are the weakest link…" The Legend charged towards the Strike Rouge, firing its beam cannons. "So I will destroy you first!" Luna took cover behind her shield, but the Legend kicked it aside and raised its beam javelin. Luna squeezed her eyes shut in terror—

A red beam cannon blast tore between the Legend and the Strike Rouge, forcing the Legend back. Rey and Luna looked in disbelief at the source, with a familiar sensation pricking Rey's senses.

Up ahead, with its long-range beam cannon deployed, flanked by the Gaia, floated the Destiny Gundam.

Rey's eyes widened in anger. "Shinn…!"

Inside the Destiny, Shinn scowled as he felt Rey's presence. The seed burst before him, and he glanced at the Gaia.

"I'll handle him, Stella," he said quickly. "You protect the others."

Stella nodded; the Destiny took off, folding its cannon and taking aim with its beam rifle.

"You've finally shown your face, Shinn!" Rey shouted, taking off towards the Destiny, drawing his second javelin and clamping them together into a single double-bladed javelin. "Your world has been destroyed! Now you will go with it!"

The Destiny drew its anti-ship sword and activated its beam wings; Shinn's eyes flashed angrily.

"I won't let you kill them, Rey!" he screamed. "I won't let you destroy what I have left!"

The Destiny brought its sword down with a crash onto the Legend's javelin blade. Rey grunted angrily under the force of the blow, struggling to hold the sword's shimmering beam away from his machine. The Destiny fired its thrusters, Shinn screaming, and surged forward, shoving the Legend down towards the water's surface. Rey scowled, charging back up, and the two Gundams crashed together again, sparks flying.

"Shinn!" Rey shouted. "I will not let you run free in this world with that kind of power!" His eyes flashed. "You betrayed us all! Your place in Gil's new world is lost! Now _DIE!_"

The Legend surged forward, firing a torrent of beam shots from its DRAGOONs— Shinn's eyes narrowed angrily, as batted the beam salvo aside with his beam shield, charging back and bringing his anti-ship sword down with a crash.

"I gave you my dream for a new world!" Rey cried. "I gave you my hope for the future, and you betrayed it! I will not let you get away!"

The Legend broke off from the Destiny with another beam volley, slamming against the Destiny's beam shields and driving it back. Rey swept in from above, twirling his double javelin and bringing it slicing down towards the Destiny. Shinn screamed back, stabbing forward with his sword, and stopped the spinning javelin blade's on the sword's beam blade edge. Rey blinked in disbelief as the Destiny charged up at him, ramming him with its shoulder.

"I don't want to hear that 'you betrayed me' shit!" Shinn snapped. "You were using me!" The Destiny surged forward, kicking the Legend backward, and deployed its long range cannon, firing a blast at the Legend's chest. Rey growled, skirting aside, firing back with his beam rifle. Shinn ducked underneath the shot, streaking across the sky— Rey followed it with a beam cannon barrage from the Legend's DRAGOONs, but his shots passed harmlessly through afterimages.

"How many _are_ there?!" Rey snarled. "Damn you, Shinn…"

The Destiny charged back towards the Legend— Rey deflected Shinn's anti-ship sword blow with his javelin, backing away with another beam volley. Shinn jetted aside, letting the shots sail through another blur of afterimages, and fired another long range cannon shot, nearly clipping the Legend's shoulder.

"I don't know what you did to Luna," Shinn cried, "but I won't let you hurt her!"

The Legend came down with another javelin swing— Shinn screamed as he charged up towards the Legend, deflecting its swing with his sword and kicking the Legend in the stomach. Rey growled as the Legend rattled, and fired another beam volley as he pulled back.

Across the battlefield, inside the Infinite Justice, Athrun watched the Destiny and Legend in disbelief. The Gaia floated in front of them, keeping them back. Athrun glanced over at it— the pilot was saying nothing, watching impassively the Destiny and Legend dueled.

The Legend skirted around the Destiny, brining its javelin to bear. Shinn scowled, activating his left-hand palm cannon, and spread his hand, blocking the Legend's javelin with his palm cannon. Rey's eyes widened in disbelief— a moment later, another kick to the chest sent the Legend reeling backward again. Rey scowled, deploying the DRAGOONs again to fire another beam volley— Shinn boosted aside, leaving an afterimage in his wake, and charged again, shoving the Legend down towards the water's surface.

"How fast _is_ this he?!" Rey growled. He tried to fire again at point-blank range— the Destiny sent him careening towards the ocean again with another kick to the stomach. Shinn came down with another devastating sword swing that sent the Legend staggering back, its entire body rattling under the blow. Rey scowled at the Destiny as it floated before him, a vicious avenging angel with shimmering wings, holding its long sword before it combatively.

"Turn back, Rey," Shinn said, eyes flashing. "I don't want to kill you."

The Legend charged, brandishing its javelins. "And that is your weakness!" Rey shouted. Shinn's eyes narrowed in anger— he swung back with his anti-ship sword, stopping the Legend cold in midair and forcing back again.

"I don't want to kill you," Shinn repeated, "but _I WILL IF YOU MAKE ME!_"

The Destiny charged again, bringing its sword to bear— Rey deflected the blow with his javelins, only to see a split-second too late as the Destiny kicked the Legend in the face, sending it tumbling backward. Shinn charged with a scream, slamming his sword down onto the Legend's javelins. Rey growled, activating the DRAGOONs to open fire again—

A blaze of beam cannon fire and missiles flashed in between the two combatants— the Destiny pulled back as the wall of firepower pushed the Legend further and further away. Snarling in anger, Rey cast a vicious glare at the rising shape of the _Megami_ as it cruised onto the battlefield.

"The _Megami!_" Shinn exclaimed. He looked back at the Legend as it took cover behind its beam shields. Rey glowered up at the Destiny and took off behind his beam shield, firing attack flares behind him. Shinn squeezed his eyes shut as the Legend made its escape over Bridgeman Island.

As the light faded, Shinn glanced at the Gaia. He looked at the three Gundams behind it— and then he looked back at the _Megami_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Bridgeman Island

The Destiny came to a rest in an empty hangar brace next to the Gaia. On the boarding gantry, Athrun stood by, still wearing his flight suit, the collar open, holding his helmet loosely in his left hand. He watched carefully as the Destiny's hatch opened. Stella was already there waiting for him, glancing apprehensively at Athrun, and at Lacus standing behind him.

Shinn Asuka emerged, his dark blue bridge coat slung over his shoulder. He said something to Stella and then cast a wary look at Athrun. The hangar was silent, all eyes on Shinn, as he slowly approached Athrun.

"You saved us," Athrun remarked tonelessly. Shinn nodded wordlessly, glancing at Lacus. She smiled back helpfully. Shinn returned his attention to Athrun.

"We want to join the Orb Raiders," he said.

Athrun glanced in surprise at Lacus; she looked at him knowingly. "What about the Mad Typhoon Gang?" he asked. "What happened to them?"

Shinn's face darkened at bitter and all too recent memories. "The _Kasselheim_ was destroyed," he said flatly. Athrun blinked in disbelief; Lacus's kind smile vanished.

"Destroyed…?" Athrun echoed. "All of them…?"

"Stella and I no longer have a home," Shinn went on. "But we want to make one here."

Lacus stepped up next to Athrun. "We can give you a home, Shinn," she said. She looked at Athrun. "Isn't that right, Athrun?"

Athrun looked at Shinn for a moment, regarding the dark-dressed youth with the burning red eyes and the three scars on his cheek. At last, he took a step forward and extended a hand.

"Welcome home, Shinn," he said.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	42. Phase 42: To Space

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 42 - To Space

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 4th, CE 74 - ZAFT mobile space fortress Messiah, PLANT, Lagrange Point 5

Somehow, it was beautiful.

Standing at the main screen in the control room of Messiah, Gilbert Dullindal couldn't help but smile as he gazed admiringly on his latest work, his finest accomplishment. Ahead of him floated the incorporeal shape of Solomon's Sword. Covered in dark-painted armor, protected by nearly impenetrable Phase Shift, crisscrossed by glowing blue machinery, it was the perfect weapon. A giant six-pronged claw extending out of a black metal sphere, with a smaller sphere attached to the opposite end, bearing six enormous engine-laden fins— it had the alien, ethereal beauty that ZAFT had designed its ships after. And it was pointed at Earth.

"Chairman," Horatio's imposing baritone began somewhere behind him. Gilbert glanced back at the National Defense Council chairman and returned his gaze to Messiah. "What shall we do with the Sword, sir?"

"Hold it in reserve for now," Gilbert answered. "The time to use it has not yet come."

He smiled.

_But it will soon._

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Southern Ocean

Shinn, Lunamaria noted with a smile, had once again eschewed a uniform, opting instead for the familiar black shirt and blue jeans of his pirate days. It was a good look for him, she decided— understated, but dark enough to capture his personality. He had joined the Orb Raiders, but he wasn't about to fit in.

Shinn regarded her carefully from across he _Megami_'s crew lounge. She supposed he was surprised to see her, dressed in a white and blue Orb uniform with her distinctive pink skirt. She made her way towards him slowly, unsure of what to expect.

At last, Shinn stood up. "How come you're here?" he asked quietly. Luna blinked in surprise— of the hundreds of questions Shinn could have had, she had expected this one the most, but it still surprised her. Shinn had grown— his skin was a little darker, he was a little taller, he was a little more muscular…and there was something else different about him, about the look in his eyes, something shimmering underneath.

"I was captured," Luna explained. "Rey tried to shoot me down at Onogoro…so…"

"He _what?_" Shinn growled. "What the hell for?"

"I guess I knew too much about why you left," Luna answered with a shrug. "ZAFT probably considers me dead."

"Damn him," Shinn snarled, clenching his fists. "He couldn't just let it be between me and him…"

"But that doesn't matter," Luna put in quickly. "Now I'm here, and now you're here, and we can fight together again like we used to."

Shinn looked at the floor. "That's true," he said awkwardly. "That's one less person I have to worry about from the _Minerva_." He glanced back up at Luna. "What about Meyrin?"

Luna's nervous smile vanished. "I…didn't have time to let her know," she said. "Rey shot me down in the middle of battle, and I was captured right afterward, so…"

Shinn's eyes darkened in anger. "He wants to kill you," he concluded. "I won't let him. I promise." Luna looked back up at Shinn, noticing in surprise that his fists were clenched and trembling. "I…I've lost everything else…I won't lose you too."

"Shinn…" Luna began.

"The Freedom," he continued, shutting his eyes, "it…destroyed them all…"

"Destroyed who?" Luna asked. "The pirates?"

Shinn's lips curled into a twisted scowl.

"He killed them all…Kira Yamato…" Shinn looked up at Luna, hatred burning in his eyes. "I destroyed him. But it didn't bring anyone back. So I'll protect what I still have…I'll never let that happen again."

The door behind Shinn opened with a hiss, and Luna watched in surprise as Shinn's anger melted away as a girl with blonde hair and a blank, intimidated look in her wide violet eyes wandered into the room.

"Luna," Shinn said, guiding the girl, "this is Stella."

Luna blinked in surprise, finding herself at last face to face with the pilot of the Gaia Gundam, the Extended that Shinn had left ZAFT for. A million thoughts went running through her head, standing before the girl who had been her enemy, the girl who had turned Shinn into ZAFT's enemy.

Luna smiled brightly and extended her hand. "I'm Lunamaria," she said. "But you can just call me Luna."

Stella hesitantly took her hand. "…Luna…?" she said slowly, staring with wide eyes at Luna's smiling face. "…Shinn's…friend?"

"That's right," Luna said. "I'm the one you, uh, rescued yesterday."

Stella glanced at Shinn, then back at Luna, and slowly smiled. "…Stella is glad," she began haltingly, "that Shinn's friend is okay."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Southern Ocean

Rau watched with a wicked smile as Kira practiced using his new limbs to manipulate his new machine. It would still be a few days before he was judged to be combat-worthy, but that was alright— the Alliance and ZAFT still had to gather their forces for their respective final blows on one another. Solomon's Sword had been completed in the PLANTs. The war had gone beyond the point of no return.

He glanced to his right as Valentine came up next to him, arms crossed expectantly.

"When are we going to space?" she asked testily.

"In four days," Rau answered, looking back at Kira as he gingerly moved the Strike Freedom's right arm with his own mechanical right arm. "We will accompany the _Minerva_. I believe Chairman Dullindal will be sending us after the Orb Raiders, now that Lacus Clyne is their leader. They are certain to try to interfere again as they did in the Valentine War. And once again, we will have to hold them back while mankind fulfills its destiny."

Valentine looked at Kira, as the Strike Freedom clenched its fist. "Such a waste," she said airily. "All this power, this beautiful new machine, a wonderful little tool to use it…and it's all to destroy the world."

"It is a necessary end," Rau countered. "Humanity has had countless chances to correct itself, and it has squandered every last one. This is their final punishment." He smirked at Kira. "And it is only fitting to destroy the world using the culmination of all its sins."

Valentine arched an eyebrow at Rau. "There are many ways to use Kira," she said.

"But only one is more fitting than all the others," Rau replied, smiling. "He is power, he is greed, he is ambition, he is destruction, he is the manifestation of everything that has brought the world to where it stands now, on the brink of Armageddon." He glanced at Valentine with a devilish smile. "Of course there are many ways to use him. He could be the conqueror to bring us the Earth Sphere on a silver platter, but all we would inherit is a broken world that will consume itself in war and hatred. He could be the evangel of peace that stands between both sides, like he did in the Valentine War, but that would only repeat the mistakes Lacus Clyne made. But he could also be the one that renders humanity's final punishment." He looked back at Kira. "He, the symbol of the world's sins, shall destroy the world that birthed him. And then he too shall die, because he is the world's sins."

Valentine looked back at the Strike Freedom, scowling.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Space Fleet _Izumo_-class battleship _Amaterasu_, Atlantic Federation Daedalus Crater lunar base, the Moon

The Orb Space Fleet had never been terribly large— and since the Sahaku family had decided not to send their own ship, the _Izumo_, and the _Kusanagi_ was already part of the Orb Raiders' _Megami_, that left only twelve ships free for the Orb Space Fleet's purposes. But they were fully armed and loaded with Murasames, representing Orb's last vestige of power.

Standing on the bridge of the flagship, the Seiran family's personal battleship _Amaterasu_, Jona Roma Seiran stared out desolately at the dark gray and red hull of the ship. This fleet was all Orb had left; all _he_ had left. His father had died during the invasion at Onogoro— that would have made him the logical successor, if Orb hadn't been so thoroughly shattered that it could do nothing to stop the Atlantic Federation from happily annexing them. Now he stood with his fleet, a ruler without a country, and with only a few troops, bowing to another kingdom's master.

He gazed up ahead at the Orb Space Fleet's new home— the burgeoning Atlantic Federation base of Daedalus Crater. Wonder overtook him as the fleet approached, passing by patrols of Alliance warships. A squad of Dagger Ls escorted the _Amaterasu_ into the dock. Jona glanced to the starboard side, at the mysterious construct on the Moon's surface. He wondered what it was— Djibril had mentioned something about a final weapon that the PLANTs would not see coming.

"Admiral Seiran," the _Amaterasu_'s captain began tenuously, stepping up next to him. "We're about to dock. The base commander has requested to meet with you."

Jona turned numbly away from the bridge windows. Somewhere in that base, the admirals and commanders of the Earth Alliance's space fleets were gathering, as the fleets themselves inexorably arrived at Daedalus, for their final strike on the PLANTs.

He thought back to his mission, and a furious scowl twisted its way back onto his face.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 5th, CE 74 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Atlantic Ocean

The _Megami_ was doing a full burn to get itself to the Equator, where it would be in prime position to put itself back in space. Unfortunately, it still had to get past the Falkland Islands, and the numerous South Atlantic islands on which ZAFT survivors from the Alliance's final attack were hiding. So far, the ZAFT troops were too demoralized to give them more than a passing glance, but it was still a day or two to the Equator.

Athrun Zala sat in the Infinite Justice's cockpit, reconfiguring the operating system to his own custom settings. The sheer wealth of weapons this machine carried was staggering— in addition to the fairly standard beam rifle, beam sabers, and CIWS, it carried a beam shield, a beam boomerang, a grappling anchor, two hidden beam sabers on the legs, and a total of five beam sabers and two beam cannons on the improved subflight lifter. And yet even with such power, he couldn't defeat that new Gundam, the machine that the Infinite Justice's databanks identified as the Legend.

He looked up across the hangar, at the silent Destiny Gundam. It had taken Shinn to defeat it.

Shinn was standing on the side— Athrun had requested his assistance in figuring out the new machine's operating system, since the Infinite Justice and Destiny had supposedly been built as part of the same project. He was leaning against the railing, staring thoughtfully at the Destiny.

"Why did you come back to save us?" asked Athrun. Shinn looked back at him for a moment, and then returned his gaze to the Destiny.

"Stella wanted to," he said. "She wanted to protect our friends."

Athrun allowed himself a thin smile. "We're your friends now?" he asked, chuckling. Shinn shrugged.

"I don't want to be alone and homeless," he said. "I don't want to be sitting around doing nothing while people need my help." He closed his eyes solemnly. "I couldn't protect any of them," he went on, "but I haven't lost everything. Stella reminded me of that before I lost something else precious to me."

Athrun nodded in somber agreement. "They meant a lot to you, didn't they?"

Shinn opened his eyes, glancing at Athrun. "They gave me a home," Shinn said, "when I was a renegade being hunted by the best ZAFT had to offer. They showed me what the real world was like. They never judged me for what I did. They never made me fight for some higher purpose I'd never live to see realized. Of course they meant a lot to me." He looked back at the Destiny. "I lost them like I lost my family."

"But you had closure," added Athrun. "You…" He paused, shaking his head. "You destroyed the Freedom, and you killed Kira."

Shinn arched an eyebrow at him. "Weren't you the one who told me doing that wouldn't bring me closure?"

Athrun looked down sullenly at the controls of the Infinite Justice. "I think I understand now," he said. "I had forgotten all the pain I felt when Nicol was killed. I felt all that hatred again, but this time, I couldn't match Kira. He defeated me, and in my rage, I hoped that you would have revenge for everyone Kira has destroyed." He shook his head. "It's not the right way, but I understand now how you feel."

Shinn looked back at the Destiny. "It didn't help," he said. Athrun looked at him interestedly. "Yeah, I shot down the Freedom. But it didn't bring anyone back. I still felt all the pain of losing them. Killing that guy didn't change anything for me."

"And that's why you joined us?" Athrun asked. "That's what you want to accomplish with us?"

"I don't know what it is _you_ want to accomplish," Shinn said. "I just want to protect the friends I have left. I couldn't do that for the Mad Typhoons, but I can still do that for Luna."

Athrun smiled sadly. "We all want to protect what we have left when we lose something," he said.

Shinn looked at him, and smiled back, just as sadly.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Southern Ocean

Talia sat back frustrated in her office chair, as the reports filed in on her computer. The ZAFT staging ground in the Falkland Islands was under attack; ZAFT units everywhere struggling to defend themselves under a crushing Alliance fleet; requesting assistance; etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. There was nothing Talia could do, not with her ship still under repairs. She switched off the monitor— listening to the desperate cries of those doomed to die would avail her nothing.

She looked up with an arched eyebrow as Arthur watched her in confusion. "It doesn't matter anyway," she said. "Even if the Falkland Islands did hold out, it would only delay the inevitable. ZAFT has no more holdings on Earth."

"And we can't even send the Legend?" Arthur asked sullenly. "We sent it to help the _Kyrgyzstan_."

"And look how that turned out," Talia pointed out. "The _Kyrgyzstan_ was closer, and we sent the Legend, and it was still sunk and the Infinite Justice still stolen. Right now our priority is repairing the ship and getting off the Earth before the Alliance comes after us."

Arthur paused, looking lost. "What about the crews of the two _Kaskirov_s?"

"They're coming with us," answered Talia, "as are whatever supplies we can fit on here. They'll scuttle the ships and we'll take off from there." She noted Arthur's crestfallen look. "We can't go around saving as many ZAFT units as we can. We'll have a hard enough time fitting the _Kaskirov_ crews onboard, along with our current crew. Can you imagine the nightmare of trying to fit a _Compton_-class's crew in here too? This is the most we can do."

Arthur sighed in understanding. "I'll inform the captains," he said, saluting and turning to leave.

"Arthur," Talia began, as he made for the door. Arthur turned back towards her in surprise. "Don't get too depressed. We haven't lost the war yet."

Arthur nodded dutifully, taking his leave. Talia sat back, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Earth orbit

"What in the hell is that?"

Sting and Auel floated in the portside observation deck, watching the _Marseille III_-class _Lake Victoria_ as it unloaded its newest cargo. Although it was carrying several new Windams, the centerpiece of this new cargo was an enormous, sleek, dark-colored mobile armor with two huge beam cannons.

"That's the Euclid?" Sting asked. "It looks like a Mobius on steroids."

"It's far more than a Mobius on steroids," a voice said. Auel and Sting turned around in surprise, finding themselves face to face with a young brown-haired Earth Alliance officer with shoulder and collar tabs indicating his rank as an Ensign, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "Ensign Anderson Myers, pilot of the TS-MB1B Euclid."

"Um…hi," Sting said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"I was told that this ship is operated by the Phantom Pain," Myers continued. "I hear Colonel Roanoke himself is onboard."

"What do you want with him?" Auel asked dubiously. Myers arched a suspicious eyebrow at him; Auel glared back.

"He's probably on the bridge," Sting put in quickly. Myers nodded and brushed past them wordlessly, heading down the hallway and disappearing around a corner.

"Did he know we're Extended?" Auel growled. "I thought everyone was supposed to treat us differently."

"I'm more worried about someone catching onto us or the captain," Sting said, crossing his arms. "Particularly Neo."

Auel looked back angrily at the _Lake Victoria_ as it began unloading a cache of mobile suit weapons. "Then we'll have to start figuring out what we're going to do."

Sting nodded grimly. "That we do."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 6th, CE 74 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Atlantic Ocean

The _Megami_ had come close, to the point at the Equator where it intended to launch itself into space. But, as Shinn reflected bitterly as he rushed to the hangar, it was too much to ask to expect everything to go right.

Six mobile suits were approaching from the southwest, but they were unlike any previously mentioned ZAFT units, and there was no reason for the Alliance to be in the area and sending only a single squad of mobile suits towards them. A visual scan had produced nothing, but the high speed and low altitude at which they were moving suggested that these six machines were ZAFT's newest production models, the DOM Troopers.

As he hopped into the Destiny's cockpit, he cracked his knuckles, activating the Destiny in an instant and watching the hangar carefully. There was activity around the Infinite Justice as well, but so far as he knew, only he and Athrun would be launching.

The Infinite Justice stepped onto the port catapult; the Destiny stepped onto the starboard one. The Infinite Justice took off with a roar, blasting off into the chilly Atlantic air. Shinn clenched his fists around the Destiny's controls.

"Destiny, cleared for launch," a girl's voice said. Shinn narrowed his eyes at the open patch of sky in the _Megami_'s catapult.

"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, _launching!_"

The Destiny took off with a flash.

Shinn fell into formation next to the Infinite Justice, glancing over at it. Athrun glanced back, and they both looked up ahead, at the six dim shapes on the horizon. Shinn magnified the image and was greeted with the specter of six bazooka-toting black-and-purple-painted mobile suits, all bearing ZAFT's distinctive monoeye, all skimming along the water's surface at high speed.

"Are those the DOM Troopers?" Shinn asked warily.

"Probably," Athrun answered, consulting the Infinite Justice's database. "There's a file on it, but I didn't think ZAFT had rolled them out this quickly."

"They used them at Carpentaria," Shinn countered. A flash of warning shot through him. "Split up!"

The Destiny and Infinite Justice lunged apart as the DOMs opened fire with a volley of beam shots, from cannons mounted underneath the barrels of their bazookas.

"What the hell kinda weapon is that?" Shinn snarled.

"You take the three on the left!" Athrun instructed. "I'll handle the right!"

The two Gundams took off.

Athrun narrowed his eyes as the DOMs came shrieking in, opening fire. He skirted aside from their shots, but three of them broke off to chase him, swarming around him and firing bazooka shells. Diving between their shots, Athrun grunted as he missed one and it slammed into his machine's torso, throwing him back. The Phase Shift armor was unharmed, but Athrun shook his head in frustration, drawing back with a beam volley. The lead DOM deflected the shots with a beam shield mounted on its forearm and fired a beam shot back.

"They have beam shields too?!" Athrun exclaimed. "Shinn!"

Nearby, the Destiny spiraled gracefully through the air, dodging a chain of beam shots and explosive shells. The DOMs swerved around him, tracing his flight path with beam fire, as Shinn dove backwards, deflecting shots with his own beam shields. He tried to fire back with his long cannon— the DOMs jetted aside and continued their volley as if he hadn't fired a shot.

"They're so fast," Shinn grunted. "What the hell are these things made of?!"

The DOMs came charging in towards Athrun, the leader drawing a beam saber. He blinked in surprise, pulling back behind his beam shield, dodging a trio of sweeping saber swipes, and fired back with his CIWS. The DOMs darted apart, spreading out and opening fire on the Infinite Justice from all sides. Athrun growled in frustration and boosted forward, whirling around to face his opponents again; they quickly gathered into a tight formation, firing again and forcing Athrun back with more bazooka shells.

"They can't be this powerful…!" he snarled.

The lead DOM Trooper charged, beam saber drawn and raised; Athrun's eyes flashed as he saw the seed, and with a scream, he charged, igniting the blade on his beam boomerang and firing the Grapple Stinger forward. It lodged itself in the DOM's right forearm— before it could react, Athrun retracted the Stinger with a flash, jerking the DOM forward and impaling its right arm on the boomerang's blade. The arm exploded in a flash of fire, throwing the wounded mobile suit back. Athrun lunged up out of the smoke, squeezing off a beam shot to blow the bazooka out of the second DOM's hand. It sped away, backpedaling for distance before Athrun could fire again. The third came charging in from behind, beam saber drawn in its left hand. Athrun narrowed his eyes and whipped around with a devastating roundhouse kick, igniting the right leg beam blade as he turned and slicing off the DOM's outstretched left arm at the elbow. The damaged mobile suits pulled back, clearly not finished off, but clearly surprised.

Across the battlefield, Shinn lunged backwards under the combined firepower of three DOMs, all firing their scattering beam cannons. He increased the beam shield's radius to encompass the entire Destiny Gundam, but the DOMs pummeled his beam shield with bazooka shells, forcing him back with sheer kinetic energy. Shinn growled, watching them dart around him, as two of them set up to flank him and the third came charging in, saber drawn. The DOMs on the sides opened fire, aiming at his wings and hoping to disable him— Shinn narrowed his eyes as the seed burst—

The Destiny drew its anti-ship sword, activating it with a flash, as its beam wings exploded to life and effortlessly deflected the beams. Before the DOM in front of him could react, Shinn charged forward with a scream, slicing its bazooka in half with a paralyzing anti-ship sword blow. The DOM tried to turn around— Shinn blew its right arm off at the shoulder with a well-placed long cannon blast, and took off with a blur of afterimages as the two intact DOMs opened fire again. He went charging towards the enemy on the left with a scream— the DOM desperately fired back, but its shots passed harmlessly through a haze of afterimages, and with a shriek of torn metal, Shinn brought his sword down through the DOM's bazooka, slicing its right forearm off in the process. A stunning kick to the DOM's face sent it reeling backward. Shinn whipped around as another shell went screaming past and fired back at the final DOM with his long cannon— it took refuge behind its beam shield, but an instant later, Shinn dove up into its face, kicking its left arm skyward and tearing it off at the elbow with a palm cannon blast. The mangled DOMs backed away, clawing for distance from the Destiny and its shimmering wings.

Three more damaged DOMs shot by, the Infinite Justice charging after them. One of them, sparks flying from the severed stump of its right arm, charged towards the Infinite Justice with its beam saber drawn back. Athrun skirted aside effortlessly, firing the Grapple Stinger and burying it in the DOM's side. He yanked the DOM back towards him, igniting the beam boomerang blade and impaling the DOM through its back. Another DOM, missing its left forearm and beam saber, came sweeping in towards Athrun with its bazooka leveled off— a red beam cannon blast sliced through the DOM's unprotected left side, blowing it apart, as the DOM impaled on Athrun's boomerang blade exploded as well. The Destiny dropped in next to the Infinite Justice, using his beam shield to deflect a beam shot from a DOM missing its left forearm.

"They're not that tough!" Shinn growled.

Athrun nodded; the two Gundams took off towards their wounded prey. A DOM missing its entire right arm came sweeping in from the side towards Athrun, beam saber drawn. Athrun narrowed his eyes at the charging foe, bringing his beam shield around to deflect the saber blow. He thrust his arm up, sending the DOM's saber arm skyward, and fired a point-blank beam rifle shot into its unprotected cockpit, wiping it out in a blaze.

Shinn twisted and turned around his two hapless foes, one DOM that had lost its right forearm and bazooka, the other that had lost only its bazooka. The damaged DOM swept in, beam saber upraised— Shinn countered with a lightning-fast palm cannon strike from his left hand, catching the DOM's remaining arm and ripping it off, and slicing the beleaguered machine in half with his anti-ship sword.

The lone DOM toting a bazooka darted to and fro as it desperately tried to avoid the charging Infinite Justice. Athrun's eyes flashed as he fired the Grapple Stinger forward, snaring the DOM's bazooka. He yanked it out of the DOM's hand, flinging it away into the ocean. The DOM desperately tried to draw its beam saber, but as it brought the saber down, Athrun severed its right arm at the elbow with a leg blade-assisted kick, and slammed his boomerang blade into the DOM's unprotected stomach.

Swinging its beam saber wildly, the final DOM jetted backward at full speed, struggling to escape. Shinn followed at only two thirds of the Destiny's top speed, effortlessly weaving between the DOM's frenzied swipes and letting his foe catch only afterimages. At last, the DOM slammed on the brakes, saber upraised for a surprise blow— Shinn screamed back, catching the DOM's arm with his left hand and ramming his sword into the DOM's cockpit with his right hand.

Sparks went flying as Shinn yanked his sword out of the DOM's chest and sliced it in half, and with a thunderous explosion, the deed was done.

"Who were these guys?" he asked quietly, surveying the six puffs of smoke and the six fields of wreckage floating on the water's surface.

"They must've been ZAFT survivors from the Falkland Islands," Athrun suggested. He glanced back at the _Megami_, noting the flashing light atop its bridge for a moment. "Let's go back. We'll be going to space soon."

Shinn watched the Infinite Justice carefully for a moment, before he smirked and took off after him.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The bridge was humming with activity when Lacus took her seat above the captain's chair. Murrue glanced up at her and nodded in greeting.

"We're going to use that 'positronic interference' trick again," she explained. "We fire the Lohengrins and the anti-matter creates a cylinder where atmospheric pressure is nil, and we can reach escape velocity by our own engine power."

Lacus looked up at the cloudy dusk sky. "Will the radiation affect anything?" Murrue looked back at the horizon.

"The radiation won't affect any people or much of the local ecosystem," she answered. "We don't have any other way of getting to space, since Gigafloat is in the north Pacific right now."

Sitting back, Lacus closed her eyes, and wondered what Shinn was thinking right now.

"Captain," Sai reported, looking over his shoulder at Murrue, "all the checks are complete. We're ready to go."

"Engines primed," Neumann added. "Everything is running smoothly."

Murrue sat back. "It's the first time we've been to space in a while," she said. There was a pause. "Lohengrins, fire!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn sat by the window, Stella at his side, strapped safely into a chair in the crew lounge with a number of other pilots and crew without jobs to fulfill during takeoff. He gazed out the window— a swirling wall of hazy air obscured his vision. He paused, as a familiar sensation rippled through him for a fleeting moment— he peered carefully through the haze as the _Megami_ rose into the sky.

Down below, as the _Megami_ took off, he could see the dim outline of Antarctica.

Stella put her hand over his, looking at him with tears in her eyes, and they both gazed out the windows at the grave of their friends, as the _Megami_ sailed up into space.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	43. Phase 43: Battlefield of Stardust

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 43 - Battlefield of Stardust

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****

January 7th, CE 74 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Earth orbit

Murrue Ramius watched the screen with interest. To the _Megami_'s starboard side, there was one ship— the heat signature was that of the Alliance's new battleship, the _Girty Lue_. To the port side were three more ships— heat signatures identified them as one _Nelson_-class battleship and two _Drake_-class destroyers. There were mobile suits approaching from all four ships.

But the interesting thing was the mobile armor approaching from the _Girty Lue_.

Murrue studied it closely. It was a sleek, dark-painted machine with two massive cannons. There were a number of Windams clinging to it, as well as two Gundams, and one custom purple-painted Windam. It was heading right towards them.

"They must've been expecting us," grumbled Neumann. "Captain, should we activate the Mirage Colloid?"

Murrue sat back. "The Alliance must want us out of the way," she posited. "I guess they think we're going to interfere with their plans this time, like we did last time."

"We cannot let them turn us back here," Lacus said confidently. Murrue nodded in agreement.

"We'll fight them here," she announced, with a thin smile. "It's been a while since they last saw Shinn. I'm sure they'll want to catch up."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Gazing down at his new Orb-issue flight suit, Shinn couldn't help but feel out of place. It was a custom color— black with blood-red highlights. His original ZAFT Red flight suit had been lost aboard the _Kasselheim— _yet another link to his past that had been severed. He wondered if there was supposed to be any meaning to his flight suit being black, stained in blood.

He clicked the neck seals into place and glanced over at Athrun, in his black and violet suit. Athrun nodded to him, passing through the locker room doors into the hangar, and Shinn blinked in surprise at Stella, once again in pink-highlighted black.

"…are we gonna fight Sting and Auel again…?" she asked quietly.

"I won't hurt them," Shinn promised. "They'll be alright."

Stella headed off towards the Gaia, looking upset. Shinn shook his head— he was about to enter battle, and couldn't afford to be distracted. He climbed into the Destiny's cockpit and strapped himself in; the Gundam came to life with a flash of eyes and Phase Shift, and he stepped forward toward the central catapult.

"Finally," Dearka said, his bronzed face grinning with delight on the monitor, as the Judicator stepped forward. "We're getting a chance to see what these new machines can really do."

"Don't get to having too much fun," Andy's grizzled voice put in, as the crimson Mustang Gundam stepped forward towards the starboard catapult. "You and Yzak are coming with me to attack those three ships to port."

"Then let's go," Yzak snarled impatiently, as the dark Calypso stomped after the Mustang.

The golden Akatsuki, sporting its new Shiranui pack, stepped in after the Calypso. "Murdoch," Mwu warned, "this thing better work."

Shinn glanced over his shoulder at the Strike Rouge, as it stepped into the starboard catapult and the Aile Striker was lowered down onto its back.

"Luna," he said, "will you be alright in that thing?"

Lunamaria turned up her nose in mock indignation. "You doubt my skills that much? I _am_ a ZAFT Red, after all. I'll be fine." She allowed herself a tiny smirk. "Lunamaria Hawke, Strike Rouge— I'm going!"

The starboard catapult fired, and the Strike Rouge went flying out into space.

Shinn took a deep breath. He had something to protect.

"You're clear for takeoff, Shinn," the operator girl's voice— Shinn recalled her name as Miriallia— reminded him. Shinn clenched his fists around the Destiny's controls.

"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, _going out!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Ensign Myers," Neo began sardonically, "intelligence indicates that ZAFT's new model, the Destiny, has made its way into the arsenal of the Orb Raiders."

Neo's warning was met with a condescending sniff. "That's quite alright, Colonel," Myers' tinny voice answered. "It's only a mobile suit. It can't possibly match the Euclid for defensive power and mobility."

Neo smiled knowingly. "It took out the Destroy pretty easily," he added. "Are you sure you want to get cocky?"

"I'll be fine, Colonel," Myers insisted. "You'll see. The Euclid may lack the Destroy's firepower, but it more than makes it up in maneuverability."

Neo tried not to chuckle and cut the line, opening one instead to the _Girty Lue_. "Lee," he said, still smirking, "make sure to keep track of the file on Myers and the address he wants his effects and letter of condolences sent to."

Lee arched an eyebrow. "You certainly have a lot of faith," he remarked.

"Anyone who goes up against a machine like that with an attitude like that is coming home in a body bag," Neo answered, cutting the line. He looked up ahead, smiling at a familiar presence.

__

Mwu, he thought amusedly. _It's been quite a long time._

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn blinked in surprise at the sight of a mobile armor, carrying several Windams and the Chaos and Abyss Gundams, charging towards the _Megami_ from the _Girty Lue_.

"What the hell is that thing?" Mwu asked, as the Akatsuki floated next to the Strike Rouge. He blinked as a familiar sensation pricked his senses. "Wait a minute…"

"It's Neo," Shinn said flatly. Mwu looked at him in surprise.

"You know— "

"Watch out!" Athrun shouted, as the Infinite Justice deployed its beam shield. Shinn deployed his own as well, and the Akatsuki threw its own shield to the defense, as a pair of thick powerful beam blasts slammed into them from the approaching mobile armor.

Across the way, inside the Euclid, Myers smiled ominously.

"I'll take on the Destiny," he said. "The Euclid can handle this!"

The mobile suits clinging to the Euclid's hull released themselves, and the Euclid boosted towards the _Megami_.

"It's coming right at us!" Luna exclaimed. Shinn scowled— he would have to earn his keep somehow.

"I'll take care of it!" he shouted, taking off before anyone could stop him. The charging Euclid fired off a swarm of anti-ship missiles; Shinn put himself between the Euclid and the _Megami_, and each missile targeted him, arcing towards the Destiny. Shinn took off over the _Megami— _the missiles and the Euclid following, with the mobile armor showering the Destiny with beam shots.

Shinn scowled, thinking back to his battle with the Destroy— the Destiny had been able to turn the Destroy's missiles back on it. He jetted away from the _Megami_, streaking across space, with a set of anti-ship missiles on his heels and a mobile armor not far behind. At last, he whipped around, glowering at the approaching missiles— the seed burst before him, the beam wings opened with a flash, and the air was filled with crackling white energy—

The Euclid's missiles veered up and came shrieking down towards the Euclid itself. Myers' eyes widened in disbelief as the missiles pummeled the Euclid's positron reflector.

"What the hell was _that?!_" he snapped. The Euclid burst up out of the smoke, firing its beam cannons— Shinn darted away in a blur of afterimages. "Are my missiles not calibrated right?" Myers snarled angrily and gave chase. "You damned mosquito! You can't beat me!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Fancy seeing you here!" Neo cackled gleefully, as his Windam swept down with a blaze of beam shots towards the Akatsuki. Mwu scowled, letting the beams bounce harmlessly off the Akatsuki's golden armor, and fired back with his own rifle.

"You died at Endiymon!" Mwu shouted back. "How the hell did you con your way back to life, you son of a bitch?!"

"Still so much bad blood, after all this time?" Neo laughed, as the Windam charged, drawing its beam saber. The two machines came together with a crash, the Akatsuki deflecting the Windam's saber strike with its shield.

"You _knew_ about that Cyclops System!" Mwu roared. The Akatsuki fired its engines, pushing the Windam back. "You _knew_ we were walking into a deathtrap! You deserved to die in that inferno, with the rest of us!"

"Having some survivor's guilt, are we?" Neo chuckled, as the Windam somersaulted over the Akatsuki's head. Mwu whipped around, drawing his double saber and swinging back wildly at the Windam's waist. It darted backward, firing its CIWS— Mwu took cover behind his shield, rocketing up above the Windam. "You act as if I paid no price of my own! Why do you think I wear this mask?"

"I don't care!" Mwu shouted back. "Take that goddamn bucket off your head and look at me with your own eyes, you coward!" The Akatsuki showered the Windam with beam shots— Neo jetted aside behind the cover his shield.

Neo's grin flashed feral. "You want to see the price I paid?" he asked sardonically. He pulled his mask off— Mwu blinked in disbelief—

A hideous array of scars crisscrossed Neo's face, over his nose, around his eyes, over his forehead, over his temples. His eyes were different colors, the left blue, the right gray, both horribly discolored. He laughed hysterically.

"You're still the same man you always were, Mwu La Fllaga!" he cackled. "You have the power of a Newtype, but you fail to appreciate it! Now _I_ have your power, power beyond your own, and I can use it for what Newtypes are truly supposed to use it for!" The Windam dashed towards the Akatsuki. "I can use this power to _change the world!_"

"You're just going to destroy it!" Mwu cried back, swinging back with his saber and deflecting the Windam's incoming strike. The two mobile suits rocketed apart, peppering the sky with CIWS rounds.

Neo donned his mask again. "You will see!" he laughed. "I will not waste the gifts I have been given!"

Mwu scowled. "Like hell you will!" he shouted, as the Akatsuki ignited its booster and took off after the Windam.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The first _Drake_-class destroyer was peeling away from the other _Drake_ and the _Nelson_-class battleship. Yzak narrowed his eyes at it, taking off and arming his weapons. A squadron of Dagger Ls, led by a squad of Windams, came storming towards him.

"Yzak," Andy said, "you handle the _Drake_ on the right. I'll handle the one on the left. Dearka, you handle the _Nelson_."

Yzak scowled. "Roger," he answered. The Calypso Gundam took off with a roar.

Beam fire came streaking down around the Calypso— Yzak effortlessly slalomed between the beam shots, spiraling down towards the attackers. The crosshairs passed over a Dagger— Yzak opened fire with the beam rifle, cutting down the first Dagger, and took off as another swarm of beam shots flashed towards him.

"It's faster," Yzak noted, scowling at the Alliance mobile suits. "You're too slow!"

A pair of Daggers swept in behind him; Yzak backflipped over the two Daggers and deployed the two hyper impulse cannons, firing and wiping out the Daggers in a pair of crimson blasts. He whipped around again, drawing a beam saber and swinging it effortlessly through another charging Dagger, and with a blast of exhaust, he took off over the remaining Daggers' heads. They came charging up towards him, firing— Yzak deployed his beam shields, deflecting their shots harmlessly, and vaulted over their heads, seizing the Calypso's two blue beam boomerangs off its shoulder racks and hurling them down at the Daggers. As they veered aside to avoid the twirling blades, Yzak picked off four more Daggers at his leisure with his beam rifle before they could return their attention to the Calypso— and as they came blazing back up towards him, the boomerangs arced back, slicing through two more Daggers. Yzak snorted in disgust as he retrieved them and lunged down into their ranks with a scream, drawing both beam sabers and cleaving through another pair of Daggers before they could react. Without bothering to turn, he activated the hyper impulse cannons again and cut down another four Daggers— the remaining six pulled back.

Yzak glanced over his shoulder as the four Windams, two sporting Doppelhorn Strikers and the other two toting bazookas, came towards him.

"The Windams," he snarled, turning to face them. "You're no match for me now!"

The Windams opened fire; Yzak charged back with a scream.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Dammit!" Luna grunted as another volley of shells slammed into the Strike Rouge's shield, sending it hurtling back. She looked up ahead angrily as the Abyss came raging down towards her, twirling its lance over its head. She rocketed backward, avoiding the Abyss's lance swing, and rocketed upward to dodge its follow-up beam cannon blast. The sensors went off with a shrill alarm— Luna pulled up and jetted aside as the Chaos's gunbarrels lined up for a killing blow. "They're fencing me in!" she cried. The Abyss stormed forward with a beam cannon blast— Luna lunged aside, firing back with her beam rifle, but the Chaos's gunbarrels swept in around her, forcing her back. The Chaos itself slipped in behind her, squeezing off a killing beam rifle shot—

Luna watched in disbelief as the shot bounced harmlessly off the shield of the Gaia Gundam. The Gaia swung its rifle up and opened fire, forcing the Chaos back.

"Stella!" Luna exclaimed. "You…you saved me!"

Stella stared forlornly at the Chaos and Abyss— Sting and Auel were inside.

"Shinn…would be sad," she said quietly.

The Chaos and Abyss did not move. Stella closed her eyes, shaking her head to squeeze tears away, and took off towards the Chaos and Abyss.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Euclid rattled as another volley of its own missiles slammed into it. Myers snarled a curse under his breath as his next salvo of beam shots passed through a blur of afterimages.

"How many of these damn things _are there?!_" he screamed, rocketing aside and firing again. The Destiny glided effortlessly over the beam shots, hurling both its beam boomerangs down towards the Euclid's armor. Both boomerangs sliced along the surface, leaving long black scars— Myers fired back at the Destiny, but again caught only blurry afterimages.

"That thing won't beat me!" Shinn growled, catching his boomerangs and firing back with his long cannon. The shot landed harmlessly against the Euclid's positron reflector. "Dammit…"

"Don't make me laugh!" Myers shouted, swinging around to fire again at the Destiny. Shinn dodged the shots easily, blazing towards the Euclid and drawing his anti-ship sword with a flash.

"If I can't shoot you," Shinn snarled, "then I'll find another way to beat you!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"This thing rocks!" Dearka laughed, as the Judicator Gundam stormed towards the _Nelson_-class battleship. A battalion of Dagger Ls came raging towards him, beam carbines blazing— Dearka smirked, skirting their wave of firepower, and slammed on the brakes. "Time to see if you can take it as well as you dish it out!"

Dual beam cannons on the shoulders and legs swiveled up; dual beam cannons in the forearms extended as the Judicator brought up its twin beam carbines; a pair of railguns swung up on the hips. Energy gathered in the mouth and chest cannons. With a scream, Dearka fired the Judicator's full arsenal, and up ahead, a dozen Daggers went spiraling backward, trailing smoke and exploding.

Dearka's eyes lit up. "_Awesome!_" he laughed. The Daggers split up, returning fire— Dearka charged forward with a grin, smacking shots away with his beam shields and roaring up into the first Dagger's face, ripping it apart with a point-blank barrage from the beam Gatlings on the Judicator's shoulders. Another Dagger swept in overhead, beam saber drawn— Dearka tilted the Judicator's head up towards it and picked it off with a mouth cannon shot.

The Daggers began to pull back as the _Nelson_ rumbled forward, guns blazing. Dearka snorted in amusement.

"They can't be serious," he chuckled. "But if that's how they want to die, _they asked for it!"_

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Windam shook as the Akatsuki delivered a punishing kick to its stomach, sending it spiraling backward. Neo growled angrily, deploying a Stiletto and hurling it up at the Akatsuki. Inside, Mwu narrowed his eyes, skirting aside as it exploded in mid-flight, and fired back with his beam rifle.

"You don't understand our power!" Neo shouted. "You don't even know how to use it!" The Windam charged, drawing its beam rifle— Mwu seized his chance, firing his own rifle to blow the Windam's rifle out of its hand. Neo scowled, switching back to his saber. "You can change the world if you so chose! You have the power and the weapons to destroy armies! You can make entire nations bow to your whims! But you don't! So I will show you how to use our power!"

Mwu's eyes flashed. "Our power is not for killing!" he shouted back. The Windam sliced down with its saber— the Akatsuki batted the saber aside with its shield and kicked the Windam in the stomach again. "I won't let you have the chance to destroy us all!"

The Akatsuki's Shiranui pack came to life, and the remote turrets took off with a flash of exhaust. Neo blinked in disbelief, as the golden turrets darted around the Windam.

"DRAGOONs?!" he exclaimed. "I thought they were maneuvering vanes!"

The turrets opened fire— in a flash, the Windam's right arm, left leg, head, and left shoulder armor were blown off. Neo grunted as the Windam quaked, and pulled back behind his shield as the turrets followed him with a wave of beam fire.

"Dammit," he grunted, "the Windam can't keep up…"

Neo took off, his maimed Windam throwing sparks. Mwu took off after him— a blaze of beam shots barred his path, as a squadron of standard Windams came sweeping in to his left. Mwu shot one last glare at Neo's crippled retreating Windam and took off towards the attackers.

——————————————————————————————————————————

With the flash of another explosion, Athrun glanced to his right as another Windam came streaking in. He swung his left leg up, using the Infinite Justice's left leg beam blade to knock aside the Windam's saber, and with a point-blank beam rifle blast, it died in a fiery explosion. He glared over his shoulder as a second Windam swept in from behind, rifle raised— in a flash, Athrun whipped around, firing his Grapple Stinger and lodging it in the Windam's torso. He quickly retracted it, igniting his boomerang blade, and impaled the trapped Windam on the blade, blowing it apart in a blaze.

"_Megami!_" he exclaimed. "What's the situation?"

"Yzak, Andy, and Dearka are keeping the three ships to port tied up," Miriallia said, "and the ship to starboard isn't going anywhere!"

__

Athrun narrowed his eyes, ducking underneath a salvo of beam fire and slashing a Windam in two with his boomerang blade. "What about Shinn and Luna?"

Shells whizzed by as a Doppelhorn Windam opened fire— Athrun whirled around, cutting it down with a rifle shot to the cockpit. "Shinn is still fighting the mobile armor," Miriallia said, "and Luna and Stella are fighting the Chaos and Abyss!"

"Luna and Stella?" Athrun repeated. Another Windam took the opportunity to come roaring up behind him, saber raised for a killing stab— Athrun fired the Infinite Justice's subflight lifter thrusters, sending the Windam careening back, and whipped around to gun it down with his rifle. "Do they need help?"

"We're fine!" Luna's voice cut in. "I'm coming to help you!"

"I don't need— " Athrun began, cut off a moment later by a storm of beam shots. He growled and slapped the shots aside with his beam shield. Two Windams came streaking in with their beam rifles drawn— Athrun fired back, missing the first but sniping down the second, when another beam shot pierced the Windam from above, blowing it apart in a thunderous blaze.

Athrun glanced at the Strike Rouge in frustration.

"You're going to get yourself killed doing that," he said, deflecting another beam with his beam shield and firing back.

"I'm not gonna be totally useless," Luna shot back.

As the Windams charged, the Infinite Justice and Strike Rouge took off together, charging back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Damn you all!" Yzak screamed. "_Die already!_"

The Calypso spiraled through the sky, dodging fire from a quartet of Windams. They arced around again, the Doppelhorn Windams opening fire with their cannons, and shells went streaking past as Yzak jetted aside. The other two skirted around him, leveling off their bazookas— Yzak glowered over his shoulder, and with a flash, two beam-tipped rocket anchors swung up from the Calypso's hip armor, jetting forward and slamming into the Windams' cockpits. Yzak rocketed forward towards the Doppelhorn Windams with a scream, swinging the captured Windams towards their comrades, and before the opponents could react, he slammed on the brakes and sent the crippled Windams hurtling towards their comrades. As the Doppelhorn Windams took cover behind their shields, Yzak wiped them all out with a hyper impulse cannon blast.

"This is too easy," Yzak snarled. The six remaining Daggers pulled back around the _Drake— _Yzak whirled around, taking off towards them with a scream. "There you are!"

The Daggers opened fire— one of them hurled a Stiletto down towards him. Yzak smacked it aside with his beam shield, firing back with his rifle and gunning down the Dagger that had thrown the Stiletto. As it died, he rocketed up into the Daggers' ranks, drawing a beam saber in his left hand and tearing down two more Daggers. He whipped around with a final beam salvo, shooting down the last three Daggers.

A wave of machinegun fire pelted the Calypso's Phase Shift armor— Yzak turned to face the _Drake_ with a scowl.

"Don't make me laugh!" he snapped, firing back at the _Drake_'s anti-air Vulcan with his rifle. He charged towards the bridge, screaming, and with a shriek of torn metal, crushed the _Drake_'s bridge with his beam saber. The Calypso rocketed aside, angling for another shot, and fired its hyper impulse cannons into the _Drake_'s open portside hangar.

Yzak snorted in disgust as the _Drake_ exploded, and took off.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Chaos dove backward, as the Gaia persistently gave chase, beam saber drawn.

"This isn't the way it was supposed to go!" Sting growled. "Auel! Can you open a line with her?!"

"She's blocking communication!" Auel snapped, as the Abyss tried to bring the blunt end of its lance down. The Gaia jetted back, letting the Abyss's lance swing past, and then delivered a staggering kick to the Abyss's face, sending it reeling back. Inside the Gaia, Stella returned her attention to the Chaos.

"I will protect," she murmured, taking off towards the Chaos. Sting grunted in frustration, deploying his gunbarrels to fire in front of the Gaia and ward it off. Stella expertly snaked through the beam shots, bringing her saber down on the Chaos's shield. "I will protect my home!"

"At least try to disable her!" Sting exclaimed, backing away and firing with his shield's machineguns.

"Go away!" Stella screamed. "Leave them alone!"

"I can't get a clear shot!" Auel protested. He opened fire with the Abyss's shoulder cannons— the Gaia spiraled down underneath the shots, and Sting yelped in surprise as the Abyss's shells slammed into the Chaos.

"Auel! What the hell are you doing?!" Sting shouted.

"I _told_ you I couldn't get a clear shot!" Auel shot back. The Abyss dove backwards as the Gaia showered it with beam cannon fire; Stella whirled around, charging toward the Chaos.

"I don't wanna hurt you," Stella growled, "so _go away!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

As another Dagger exploded violently, Andy smirked, turning the Mustang Gundam's beam rifle on a second Dagger and blowing it apart effortlessly.

"Gotta hand it to the Alliance," he grunted, pausing to fling a beam boomerang down at another foe, slicing it half before it could react. "They sure do know how to build mobile suits."

A Doppelhorn Dagger came streaking in, cannons blazing— Andy skirted its shots effortlessly, firing the rocket anchors mounted on the Mustang's hip armor and smashing the Dagger's cockpit. Andy whirled around, catching his boomerang on the rebound, and swinging the Dagger with him, putting it in the path of another trio of Daggers as they opened fire, accidentally destroying their comrade. Andy fired the Mustang's beam rifle, cutting the Daggers down.

He glanced over his shoulder; another Dagger, toting a bazooka, swept in behind him, lining up for a killing shot— Andy smirked, whipping around, igniting a beam blade on the Mustang's foot and wiping the Dagger out with a lightning-fast roundhouse kick that sent the beam blade tearing through the Dagger's waist.

"I wonder how Yzak and Dearka are doing," Andy muttered to himself, as he effortlessly turned and shot down another charging Dagger. "Ah well, they're probably having plenty of fun of their own!"

He looked up ahead at the _Drake_-class destroyer looming ahead, and with a smirk, went charging towards it.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Judicator plowed through a wave of machinegun fire, storming towards the furiously firing _Nelson_ as it desperately tried to hold him off. The Daggers came streaking up towards him— Dearka laughed contemptuously, boosting aside as their shots sailed by harmlessly. The first brazen foe charged into his face, beam sabers upraised in both hands.

"You must have a death wish!" Dearka shouted, stashing his beam carbines on the Judicator's hip armor and catching the Dagger's arms with his machine's bare hands. He smirked with satisfaction as he cut the Dagger to ribbons with a point-blank burst from the 45mm machineguns installed in the Judicator's chest.

As the first Dagger exploded, Dearka rocketed up over the plume of fire, and fired another mouth cannon shot to pick off another Dagger. He swept aside, charging towards the _Nelson_'s prow and peppering it with beam Gatling bolts. A Dagger came sweeping in from behind— Dearka whirled around with a laugh, drawing a beam saber from the Judicator's hip armor and slashing the Dagger in two. He whipped around again, firing a blaze of beam cannon volleys into the _Nelson'_s prow and blowing it apart. The rest of the ship went reeling back violently— Dearka charged up towards the bridge, blowing it out with a shot from his chest cannon, and forced open the buckling hull with another beam cannon volley. A Dagger came streaking in, beam carbine blazing— Dearka deflected its shots with his beam shield and sent a final cannon volley into the _Nelson_'s innards.

As the ship exploded into a thunderous fireball, Dearka gleefully blew apart the last remaining Daggers.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Metal shrieked as the Destiny's beam boomerangs carved another pair of ugly black scars over the sloping armor of the Euclid. Myers growled angrily as sparks flew in the cockpit, and fired back with his beam cannons. The Destiny effortlessly somersaulted over them, storming down with a long cannon shot that slammed against the Euclid's positron reflector.

"Dammit!" Myers screamed. "You can't beat me, you goddamned ZAFT machine!"

The Euclid boosted backward to avoid a killing stab from the Destiny's anti-ship sword, firing its beam cannons again. Shinn scowled, smacking the shots aside with his beam shield and charging after the retreating Euclid.

"Come back here!" Shinn shouted, racing after the Euclid with a scream.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Charging past the explosions of the _Drake_'s last mobile suits, Andy smirked as the Mustang streaked through the _Drake_'s desperate anti-aircraft fire, drawing his two anti-ship swords and igniting their blades. He slammed them down into the _Drake_'s hull, drawing out plumes of fire as he struck magazines. The _Drake_'s missile launchers opened fire— Andy rocketed forward along the hull, letting the ship's missiles slam into its hull and tear the ship apart.

At last he came down before the bridge, close enough to see the incredulous faces of the Alliance officers.

"Sorry, guys," he chuckled. "But you should've left us alone."

The Mustang fired the Scylla cannon in its forehead, smashing through the bridge and the engines. As the _Drake_ was torn apart by a massive fireball, Andy took off, still smirking.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Myers glanced to his left angrily as a flash of light caught his attention— the _Girty Lue_ was launching retreat flares. Already the ship's two stolen ZAFT Gundams and remaining Windams were clawing for distance, heading back.

"Ensign Myers," the gruff voice of the captain began. "The retreat signal has been fired. Why are you not pulling away from that enemy?"

"I can take him down!" Myers screamed, charging around the Destiny with a beam cannon volley. "I can beat him!"

"Retreat, Myers!" Neo's voice shouted angrily. "That's an— "

Myers cut the line angrily. "No one will care if I can kill him!" he snarled. "Die already, Coordinator! _DIE ALREADY!_"

Inside the Destiny, Shinn narrowed his eyes, storming forward. The Euclid fired again as Shinn charged— it rocketed aside, and Shinn whirled around before it could fire again. With a final long cannon shot, he speared the Euclid's engine block on a crimson beam. The Euclid's engines died with a violent explosion— Myers yelped in surprise as the Euclid's forward section rocked under the blow. He tugged at the controls.

"The controls won't respond!" he shouted. "What's going— "

He looked up, and screamed as the Destiny drove its sword into the Euclid's cockpit.

Shinn scowled, wincing at the familiar feeling of death. He yanked the sword out and fired a long cannon shot through the wound, and with a thunderous explosion, the Euclid was gone.

"Shinn," he heard Miriallia's voice say. "The Alliance forces are retreating. You can return now."

Shinn looked out towards the _Girty Lue_, and headed back to the _Megami_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 8th, CE 74 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Southern Ocean

The _Minerva_'s repairs were finally complete. Rey strapped himself into a seat in the _Minerva_'s crew lounge, sitting back as the countdown began. He thought back to his last encounter with Shinn, in the South Shetland Islands, protecting Athrun Zala…and Lunamaria Hawke.

Rey closed his eyes, reaching out and feeling the familiar presence of Rau Le Creuset, as the _Deliverance_ ascended into space ahead of them.

"Engines activated!" Meyrin's voice announced over the loudspeaker. The _Minerva_'s engines came to life with a roar, the ship shook, and the _Minerva_ turned toward the stars.

Rey scowled. Shinn was up there, and this time they would finish their battle.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	44. Phase 44: Rushing Towards Destiny

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 44 - Rushing Towards Destiny

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 9th, CE 74 - ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Earth orbit

"It is indeed ironic," Rau said with a chuckle, sitting back in his office aboard the _Deliverance_, "that the little soldier you cultivated from scratch should at last join the forces of the little girl that threatens us all."

Sitting in his chair in his own office on Messiah, Gilbert Dullindal scowled in annoyance.

"We must not take anymore chances," Gilbert said resolutely. "The Orb Raiders must be destroyed."

"Of course they must," Rau replied, smiling knowingly. "But why try to destroy them yourself? In good time, they will bring themselves to their own destruction. The end of the world is an unstoppable force, but the Orb Raiders are not an unmovable object."

"Well, we do not have the time to wait for that," Gilbert said dismissively. "I am sending you, along with the _Absolution_, the _Constantinople_, and the _Babylon_ to join the _Minerva_ and destroy the Orb Raiders. Talia will be in charge."

Rau sat back, still smiling. "So many FAITH units," he noted. "You certainly aren't taking chances."

"Destroy them at all costs," Gilbert said pointedly. "I will not stand for Shinn Asuka running loose any longer."

The screen went dark, and Rau chuckled again.

"If you were trying to keep Shinn from becoming too powerful to control," he said, "it's a little too late now." He looked up. "I look forward to meeting you again, Shinn Asuka."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Earth orbit

The pilots had gathered on the bridge, hanging near the back, watching with the bridge crew as the images scrolled by on the main screen.

Shinn Asuka looked around the bridge uneasily, noting the ubiquitous Orb uniforms. He looked down at himself, still clad in the black shirt and blue jeans that Kika had given him a lifetime ago. They were supposed to keep him from standing out, she had said. He looked around and shook his head, looking back up at the screen.

The Earth Alliance was marshaling its 3rd Combined Space Fleet, a gargantuan armada; nearly eight hundred ships were coming together at the Atlantic Federation's Daedalus Crater lunar base, forming a force that ZAFT, in its weakened and demoralized state, could not possibly resist.

The screen went dark, and all eyes turned to the stoic figure of Lacus Clyne, seated in her typical chair.

"The Alliance is controlled by Blue Cosmos," she said thoughtfully, "and we already know what Blue Cosmos's goal is. It is clear that the Alliance intends to end the conflict between Naturals and Coordinators once and for all." She paused meaningfully. "But we do not know ZAFT's intention. What Chairman Dullindal plans to do could make this a fight for survival or the brink of Armageddon."

"So we're going to find out what Dullindal's up to, and if necessary, intervene in the conflict and try to keep everyone from destroying the world," Mwu said, crossing his arms. Lacus nodded grimly.

"Our presence and intervention is once again necessary," she said.

Shinn scowled. "I sure hope it goes better this time," he growled.

The bridge's attention shifted to him, but before anyone else could say anything, Lacus smiled disarmingly.

"This time," she said, "we have learned from our mistakes and learned what it is we must do in this war." She sat back. "We cannot change the way people feel about each other. Only they can change that. But as long as we have power, we can still use it, and it is our responsibility to use it to pull apart these two warring sides before they can destroy the world that both are fighting for."

Shinn shook his head again. Lacus looked down at Murrue.

"We need supplies before we can do anything," Murrue put in. "Particularly if we're going to be doing a lot more fighting."

"I will contact the Junk Guild," Lacus answered. "They have helped us before in the past. Once we have replenished our supplies, we can begin trying to uncover Chairman Dullindal's true intentions in this war."

Lacus cast a knowing glance at Shinn; he stared back somberly and then looked away.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Daedalus Crater base, the Moon

The _Girty Lue_ shuddered as it entered the dock, and Lee sat back tiredly as the docking tubes attached themselves to his ship. Neo was in his office— Lee was grateful to be away from the Phantom Pain's ominous presence.

"Inform the Colonel that we have docked," he said. As one of the crew scurried off to carry out his order, Lee looked around the battleship dock. By his count, there were a dozen of the _Izumo_-class battleships belonging to the Orb Space Fleet here. He wondered vaguely what they were doing here.

There was a deep rumbling, and one of the massive doors at the end of the dock ponderously ground its way open. A swarm of worker machines began hauling crates through the opened door— Lee looked up past them and blinked in disbelief.

In a hangar across from the battleship dock, Lee could see the towering forms of five Destroy Gundams.

"There's…_five_ Destroys…?" the helmsman murmured in disbelief.

Lee looked on solemnly at the five behemoths.

"This battle," he said quietly, "will be the final judgment."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Earth orbit

Shiho found Aoma in the observation deck, floating silently before the panorama of the stars, staring out into the depths of space.

"Ruumari was with me, the last time I was here," she said quietly.

Shiho closed the door behind her. "This is war," she began uneasily. "Anyone can die."

Aoma closed her eyes, drifting away and catching herself on the rail with her foot. "His parents must know by now," she went on, "that I couldn't protect him."

Shiho pulled Aoma down closer, glaring. "Don't start talking like that. You did all that you could. Shinn simply outclassed you both."

"He died on _my sword!_" Aoma cried, whirling around, tears in her eyes. "I tried to take down the Force Impulse, it cut off my machine's arm and took my sword, and it killed Ruumari with my own weapon!" She looked angrily back at the stars. "That's why I want to destroy him! I _have_ to destroy him! He…" She trailed off, squeezing her eyes shut. "He…took my friend from me…"

"That's what happens in war," Shiho said, taking Aoma by the shoulders. "That's why it's a terrible thing."

"Am I supposed to just write it off, then?!" Aoma protested, eyes flashing.

"You're supposed to learn from it," Shiho answered crossly. "Ruumari was going insane with his obsession. It was a release for him to die. If he'd lived, he would have just been consumed with hatred, and either way you would have lost your friend."

Aoma wrenched herself out of Shiho's grip. "I was going to save him!" she cried. "I was going to bring him back to his senses! I don't know how, but I was the only person he had to rely on! I would've brought him back!"

Shiho regarded the angry, broken girl for a moment. Her friend had been killed, taken away by a faceless specter that was her enemy…

It sounded familiar.

"His death was unfortunate," Shiho said carefully. "But the ultimate way to honor his death is to survive this war." Aoma looked up at Shiho in surprise. "You carry your memories of him, memories of him long before either of you joined ZAFT or were assigned to this ship. You knew him, and you carry that with you. If you truly want to honor his death, survive, so that in some way, he can too."

"C-Commander…" Aoma began.

Shiho looked out somberly at the stars. "This war has killed so many people already," she said. "It does not need to kill anymore."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Earth orbit

"Shinn is mad again," Stella observed, floating near the window of the _Megami_'s crew lounge. Shinn glanced across the room at her, looking up from a stack of papers from the Destiny Gundam.

"Am I?" he asked absently, looking away again.

"Stella doesn't like it when Shinn is mad," Stella added quietly. "Shinn is scary when he's mad."

"I don't mean to be," he said quietly.

Stella glanced back at him for a moment. "They're nice here," she said quietly. "They're our friends." She paused. "Stella doesn't want Shinn's friends to get hurt."

Shinn looked up at her, blinking. "You were protecting Luna," he said.

"Luna is Shinn's friend," Stella replied. She paused again. "Stella likes Luna too…"

Shinn regarded Stella carefully for a moment. "I don't like what they're doing," he said at last. "They want to try to stop the war. But they tried to do it during the last war and they didn't do anything."

Stella slowly glanced over at him. "…but they want to stop the war," she said. "And wars are scary…doesn't Shinn want to stop the war…?"

Shinn looked out the window himself, staring ruefully at the stars. "I want the war to end," he said, "but I don't think one person can make it end."

Blankly, Stella gazed out at the stars herself, following Shinn's line of sight. "Stella wants the war to end," she murmured, "…so she doesn't have to go back…to the lab…"

Shinn turned toward her sharply. "You'll never have to go back," he said resolutely; she turned her eyes towards him in surprise. "I promise you. I'll make sure you never have to go back to that…" He paused, shaking his head. "That _place_."

Stella smiled and threw her arms around Shinn; he blinked in surprise, stumbling backward. "Stella doesn't wanna go back," she said. "Stella wants to stay with Shinn."

Smiling himself, Shinn hugged her back. "No matter what happens," he answered, "we'll always have each other."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Earth orbit

Kira gazed out silently at the dark specter of space. Somewhere out there were the Orb Raiders. They were still alive. Lacus was still alive. They would have to be destroyed. They were going to get in the way of the final plan— their eyes were blind; they would stumble forward and destroy everything again, as they always did, unless he stopped them.

He moved his arm forward to steady himself on the guardrail on the _Deliverance_'s observation deck. He looked down at the skeletal metal hand jutting out from his ZAFT uniform; he narrowed his remaining eye at the sound of the servos underneath.

"We'll be attacking in a couple of days," he heard Valentine's voice say. He spun around in surprise, finding her drifting towards him from the door of the observation deck. "You'll get to fight them soon. And this time you'll finish them off."

Kira looked away at the stars, squeezing his eye shut in shame. "Of course," he said quietly. He glanced back at her. "But…what about Shinn?"

Valentine arched an inquisitive eyebrow, coming to a rest against the railing next to him. "What about him?" she asked.

"Will he be in our way too?" he went on, looking back down at his mechanical hand.

"He's joined the Orb Raiders," Valentine answered, dubiously looking out at space. "But we'll worry about him. You have to fight the people from your past. It's the only way you'll ever be free."

"I know," Kira murmured, looking back at her. "And…after that, we'll use the Sword…?"

Valentine was silent a moment. "Just follow my instructions," she said at last. "I still need you…to protect me."

"I understand," said Kira, his eye turning back to the stars.

With a smile, Valentine put her arms around him. "It will all be over soon," she said, "and the world will finally be set right."

——————————————————————————————————————————  
**January 10th, CE 74 - Atlantic Federation Daedalus Crater base, the Moon**

Three columns of pilots marched by, in black and white Earth Alliance flight suits, their footsteps echoing sharply down the corridors. Sting and Auel blinked in surprise, skirting aside and dutifully saluting as a black-uniformed officer led the pilots down the hall, towards one of the base's countless mobile suit hangars.

"What are they…?" Auel murmured, glancing at Sting.

Sting narrowed his eyes at them— the young faces, the soulless eyes, the blank expressions, all of them marching in perfect sync behind a stoic, steely-eyed major. They rounded a corner, slowly filing past and out of sight.

"They're like us," Sting said, narrowing his eyes at them. "They're Extended."

"_All_ of them?" Auel repeated, eyes widening in disbelief. "But I thought there were only a couple dozen of us!"

"They've been busy," growled Sting. "C'mon, let's go." He took off after the troop of Extended, glancing anxiously around the corner.

"Why would they want so many here?" Auel asked.

Sting glanced at Auel over his shoulder and proceeded down the hallway, towards a set of double doors near the hallway's end. "You remember when we went back to Lodonia, and Stella got captured?"

Auel's eyes darkened in anger. "Yeah."

"They moved all the operations at Lodonia up to Althea Crater," Sting went on. "So I guess those guys are here for those five Destroys."

"But there were more than five of them," Auel countered. "What would they be doing with the others?"

The doors slid open with a hiss, and Sting stepped into the hangar, narrowing his eyes in anger. Auel looked up, blinking in confusion.

"That," Sting said flatly.

Towering above them along the side of the hangar were twelve Windams, all outfitted with the distinctive orange and white shape of a Gunbarrel Striker pack.

"I thought Extended couldn't use those," Auel protested.

"I guess they can now," Sting answered quietly, crossing his arms. "Our plan just got a little more complicated."

"What? Says who?"

Sting's eyes darkened, frustrated. "They probably have all these mobile armors and crap here to defend the Requiem," he said. "ZAFT's gonna attack. They're gonna gun for the Requiem. And I would guess that these guys are there to protect it."

Auel scowled up at the Gunbarrel Windams. "Then we'll have to go through them too," he growled.

"Come on," Sting said, glancing at Auel. "Let's get back to the ship. We have work to do."

Auel smirked and followed Sting out.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, Earth orbit

The _ReHOME_ hummed with activity, the salvaging arms ponderously transferring crates into the _Megami_'s open hangar, as Murasames and a handful of worker pods and mobile suits scurried between the two docked warships. Inside the Destiny, Shinn sat back and sighed quietly, as his machine set down another stack of crates filled with missiles. It was better to be doing this, he told himself, than to be sitting around brooding. He turned around, making for the open catapult, to hop back out into space and head back to the _ReHOME_ for another load. As he cleared the _Megami_'s hull, he glanced to his right— the Gundam Astray Red Frame glanced back at him, delivering two armfuls of weapons to the hangar.

"Shinn!" he heard an excited voice shout. A moment later, the Red Frame came back out the _Megami_'s starboard catapult, rushing towards the Destiny and attaching a link wire to the Destiny's shoulder. The grinning face of Lowe Gear appeared on Shinn's monitor. "Shinn! Holy crap, you're alive!"

Shinn blinked in confusion. "Am I not supposed to be?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I heard you were involved in those two crazy battles on Earth," Lowe went on. "Man, I'm surprised you made it out!" He paused. "But, wait, what about the Mad Typhoon Gang?"

Shinn's eyes darkened, as he glanced away. Lowe blinked in disbelief.

"_What?!_" he exclaimed. "Did they— "

"All of them," Shinn said quietly.

Lowe stared at him for a moment, crestfallen. "Wow," he said at last, "I'm sorry, man…I dunno what to say." Shinn shook his head. "Well…um…what happened to the Impulse?"

"Shot down at Antarctica," Shinn answered, glancing back at Lowe.

"And, uh, how'd you get this thing?" Lowe went on, the Red Frame pointing at the Destiny.

Shinn glanced down at the Destiny's controls. "I stole it from the _Minerva_," he said with a shrug.

"From the _Minerva?!_" Lowe exclaimed. "During the battle?!" Shinn nodded, still confused. "Oh my God, man, you are _insane!_"

A widely grinning face popped up over Lowe's image; Shinn blinked again. "He's not insane, Lowe!" the man said, pointing skyward melodramatically. "He's _living up to his potential!_"

"What the— " Shinn began. "Who is this?"

"Oh, that's George," Lowe said with a shrug.

"Not just George!" the man interrupted. "I am the one, the only, the first Coordinator_, George Glenn!_" Fireworks went off in the background, his uniform coat fluttering dramatically in the wind.

Shinn blinked in disbelief. "You're _what?!_"

"Yeah," Lowe went on, scratching his head awkwardly. "Eh, it wouldn't hurt to tell ya, I guess. We've got this thing called the GG unit— "

"You talk of me as if I'm a mere machine, Lowe!" Glenn protested. "I thought we were _friends!_"

"We are!" Lowe grunted. "But…well, anyway, he's not the real George Glenn, he's just a hologram."

"A hologram of the real George Glenn," Glenn put in.

"His brain's floating around in a jar inside the _ReHOME_," Lowe added. "Anyway, don't let him scare ya."

Shinn stared at them both blinkingly.

"And, uh, what the hell's the point of having George Glenn's brain floating around your ship?" he ventured. Lowe blinked in surprise, while Glenn swiftly adopted an offended air.

"I serve as this ship's captain, heart, soul, spirit, guide, and friend!" George cried, offense vanishing in favor of a beaming grin.

"So you're really George Glenn," Shinn said, arching a dubious eyebrow at the grinning first Coordinator.

"Either that or he's a holographic goof-off," Lowe said, as the Red Frame shrugged its shoulders.

"Stop goofing around, Lowe!" a tinny voice put in angrily. "We have work to do!"

"Oh for Pete's sake, chill out, Eight," Lowe grumbled. He looked up at Shinn. "Well, I have to work, so don't let George scare you too much."

"I am not scary!" Glenn protested.

"You are an apparition," Eight put in.

The Red Frame disconnected its wire and moved back towards the _ReHOME_; Shinn glanced at his screen, noting wryly that George Glenn was still grinning widely at him.

"Um, if you really are George Glenn…" Shinn began.

"I _am_ George Glenn," Glen insisted. "Why doesn't anyone believe me?"

"…well, anyway," Shinn went on, deciding not to touch _that_ comment, "you said the Coordinators were supposed to bridge the gap between normal humans and the people of the future…?"

"Indeed I did."

Shinn's visage darkened. "Some people call those humans Newtypes," he added.

"People come up with lots of names for things," Glenn said with a shrug. "I could've called them Oompa-Loompas if I really wanted to. But the Coordinators are supposed to help people bridge gaps in understanding. That is what I believe the people of the future will be able to do."

"Then they aren't some super-soldier who can change the world?" Shinn asked.

"Not one of them, no," Glenn answered. "Anyone can be a Coordinator, or a Newtype, or whatever you'd like to call it. All you need is the will and the power to help people, to understand them. There's no need for some all-reaching philosophy or plan." He smiled helpfully. "Since I was awoken, I've met many people, both Coordinators and Naturals. But only a few of them have lived up to what Coordinators are supposed to be. Shinn Asuka, you are one of those people."

"M-Me?" Shinn exclaimed, blinking again. "But…but I'm a soldier. I fight in wars just like everyone else. How am I helping anyone or understanding anyone?"

"What will have you tried to impose on anyone?" Glenn countered, smiling broadly. "You have true powers of understanding; you have what people of the future will all have someday. Whether or not you choose to accept this power of understanding is another story, but nevertheless, you are the kind of person the Coordinators should have been."

"I still kill people," Shinn said. "I still fight in this war. I may not be trying to change the world, but I'm still fighting in it. How am I any better than anyone else?"

Glenn smiled again. "I'm glad you have so much power, Shinn," he said. "Someday, people will understand your gifts. Until then, you must protect them from those who don't. Would you allow everyone to be destroyed by this war?"

"Of course not."

"Then don't."  
Shinn blinked at the simplicity of it. He looked away. "Everyone's been telling me that if I keep fighting and suffering, someday it will all create some new world where I won't have to fight anymore." He looked back at Glenn bitterly. "And now you're telling me that too."

"No," Glenn said, shaking his head, "I'm telling you to be who you are. Don't lose your kind and loving heart. Don't let this war destroy it. Remain who you are, and protect what's important to you. Never lose your kindness and your power to understand, and someday, the world will understand too."

Shinn turned that over in his mind for a moment, and smiled. "I can do that," he said at last.

Glenn smiled back. "Everybody can."

——————————————————————————————————————————

The tapping of keys came to a halt as Lunamaria gingerly entered the crew lounge, finding Athrun Zala at the terminal, schematics of the Infinite Justice arrayed before him.

"They're almost done with the supplies," Luna said quietly, slowly approaching Athrun. "We're going to leave soon."

"We're going to the PLANTs," Athrun finished tonelessly. "If you want to leave, that would be the best time to do it."

Luna frowned. "I'm not going to leave."

Athrun looked up at her, surprised. "Why not?"

"As far as ZAFT is concerned, I'm dead," Luna said. She looked up at the screen, staring almost resentfully at it. "Meyrin and my family have probably already shed all their tears for it. How can I just pop back into their lives after all that pain?"

"It would be better than not having you," Athrun said. Luna shrugged.

"As long as the war's on, I'd probably get dragged back onto the battlefield anyway." She looked towards Athrun, smiling. "And I'd rather be on the side where I can do something to make it all come to an end."

Athrun looked back at the screen. "This time it's different," he said. "They ignored us last time and couldn't stop us from taking out their superweapons and stopping them before they could destroy everything. This time they'll be expecting us."

"It's better than doing nothing," Luna insisted.

Athrun brought up a different image on the screen; Luna blinked in surprise at what looked like the schematics of a new Striker pack.

"This is for you," Athrun said. "The Junk Guild said that they'll look for one. It's the Integrated Weapons Striker Pack— it combines all of the Strike's various Striker packs into one unit, and it has increased performance. It will help you on the battlefield."

"I'm not _that_ bad a pilot," Luna protested awkwardly.

Athrun narrowed his eyes. "It doesn't matter how good you are," he said. "The Strike Rouge is outdated. Your equipment needs to be upgraded, or else…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "You shouldn't have to die like Cagalli did."

"Athrun…"

"I couldn't protect her, and I couldn't take down Kira…but I'm not useless yet." He went back to the Infinite Justice's schematics. He paused and looked back up at Luna. "Just promise me that you'll be careful."

Luna blinked in surprise. "I-I will," she said.

Athrun's eyes darkened, as he looked away. "I've watched too many of my friends die already," he said.

Luna smiled back. "Don't worry," she said. "I won't die on you too."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 11th, CE 74 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Earth orbit

"Working together again, I see," Rau Le Creuset's ever-amused voice chuckled through the speakers, as his smiling masked face stared down onto the _Minerva_'s bridge from the screen. "Ah, but this time we're after bigger game."

"Where are the other ships?" Talia asked, narrowing her eyes at Rau. She glanced to the _Minerva_'s starboard wing, where the aquamarine _Absolution_ was lazily cruising next to the _Minerva— _they were still two vessels short.

"The _Constantinople_ and the _Babylon_ will be arriving shortly," Rau said with a grin, sitting back in his chair on the _Deliverance_. "In the meantime, captain, enlighten me on our plan of attack. The Orb Raiders are no pushovers, after all."

"I will lay that out when the other ships arrive," Talia said crossly. "For now, fall into formation on the _Minerva_'s port wing."

Rau chuckled wordlessly as the screen went dark. Talia glared up ahead at the bone-white _Deliverance_ as it ponderously swung around. She was going to have to attack Shinn again— to follow him and try to destroy the power he had taken for himself, to end this war.

She sat back, staring ahead resolutely. Shinn would just have to be strong.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Rey sat back inside the Legend Gundam, as the operating system loaded its recalibrated settings, the result of his hours of work. He closed his eyes, reaching out and feeling the familiar presence of Rau Le Creuset. Something cold and white, something that would be with him. He felt Valentine, her dark, electric presence punching through him.

And he felt Kira Yamato.

Rey opened his eyes, glowering in the direction of Kira's presence. _He_ was here, that twisted amalgam of science and sin. There was _his_ power as well, to be seen in this battle against the Orb Raiders.

Rey frowned, turning the feeling over in his mind. It was unmistakably Kira Yamato…but it was different. There was something dark at its core, twisted and hateful. Kira had been disastrously defeated at Antarctica; the Freedom had been destroyed, and Kira himself had required reconstructive surgery of the most literal fashion. But now there was something dark under the feeling, a black mass of decay eating him away.

And of course, there was pressure.

Rey narrowed his eyes. So _he_ had their gift too— but it was no matter. This pressure was nil compared to the true Newtype that Rey would have to destroy.

His thoughts turned to Shinn. The mighty Newtype— but what did that matter? He had lost his place in the world.

And yet he had been the one to defeat Kira. He was the one who could _destroy_ Kira. The world was near its end already— there was nothing anyone could do to stop it now. But there would be people who would try— and so Kira was still necessary, to protect Solomon's Sword, until the very end. And yet Shinn had been the one to defeat Kira.

Rey scowled, returning to work. He would do what he was told— that was all he could do.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT mobile space fortress Messiah, Lagrange Point 5

Standing before the main window of his cavernous office, Gilbert stared ruefully at the stars. Somewhere out there, he reminded himself, his flotilla of FAITH units was gathering, to strike down the Orb Raiders before they could get in his way.

Lacus Clyne was out there, and she had to be destroyed. She was too inquisitive, too manipulative, too powerful. She had the will to step in and manipulate political events, and the military power to resist the armies sent to crush her time and time again. He fully expected to hear news of some horrible loss…but all that really mattered was that Lacus be delayed, long enough for ZAFT to move into position. After that, she didn't matter. This time, ZAFT would not make the same mistakes.

"Chairman," a voice began. Gilbert glanced at his office's main screen— Horatio's face appeared, and he dutifully saluted. "The fleet has been gathered, sir. Our reinforcement fleet has been marshaled at Armory 1. We are awaiting your orders."

Gilbert glanced back, at the sinister shape of Solomon's Sword. Small machines began to spread around it in a complex polyhedral configuration— the Mirage Colloid generators spread around the massive weapon to keep it hidden until the time was right to reveal it.

"Activate the Sword's Mirage Colloid," he ordered. "As for the fleet, stand by for my orders. We'll let the Alliance make the first move."

"Yes sir," Horatio answered, the screen going dark.

Gilbert returned to his desk, staring down at the computer screen and the speech on it.

_One final act of eloquence and diplomacy,_ he told himself, _before the guns sound for the last time._

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	45. Phase 45: Operation Purity

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 45 - Operation _Purity_

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 12th, CE 74 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, near Lagrange Point 5

The Destiny Gundam latched itself into the _Megami_'s central catapult with a crash, as the machine came to life. Shinn Asuka shut his helmet's visor, scowling out at the patch of space before him. _They_ were here— the _Minerva_, that bone-white _Eternal_-class cruiser that had launched the Freedom, and another _Eternal_ cruiser.

"Looks like it's mostly ZAKUs and GOUFs," Mwu's voice warned grimly. "There's a few others, but we can't identify them from here and they're scrambling our scans. So we're just going to shoot at them and hope that they don't shoot back."

"So in other words, we're winging it," Dearka put in, smirking.

"It's not like we have FAITH units breathing down our necks every day," Andy added. "Murasame teams, protect the _Megami_. We'll take care of the heavy hitting."

Shinn closed his eyes, reaching out to feel the presences of his enemies. He felt Rey out there— that was a given. Shiho was coming as well…and then there was Kira—

Shinn's eyes opened in disbelief. It couldn't be— he had died at Antarctica.

"Shinn, you're clear for launch," Miriallia reminded him.

His eyes flashed— Kira Yamato was out there, again. But this time, he would go down.

"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, _going out!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

As the Providence Gundam rumbled onto the battlefield, Rau smiled up ahead at the tiny specks of light taking off from the dim form of the _Megami_. He reached out with his senses, feeling Shinn and Mwu among their ranks, waiting for him.

"Operation _Purity_ will now commence," Talia's voice announced through the Providence's cockpit. "All mobile suits, advance and engage at will— keep the enemy mobile suits occupied. All ships, split up and flank the enemy vessel. _Constantinople_ and _Babylon_, begin your run."

The ZAFT ships began to move, and Rau smiled to himself. He glanced over to his fight— his screen was filled by the shining form of Kira's new Strike Freedom Gundam.

"Kira," he said, "the time has come."

Kira narrowed his remaining eye at the _Megami— _Lacus was on that ship, the last vestige of his past that remained, the last enemy standing in his way.

The mobile suits took off with a flash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn glowered up ahead at the familiar feeling of Rey's presence— the ZAFT mobile suits opened fire, fanning out around the _Megami_.

"Return their fire!" came Andy's order. "The Murasames can protect the ship! Engage them as far ahead as possible!"

Shinn scowled; the Destiny charged, arming its beam rifle. Somewhere in there was Rey— if he was ever going to find out if that was indeed Kira Yamato still alive within their ranks, he would have to go through Rey.

A storm of beam shots shrieked by the Destiny— Shinn skirted aside as the familiar net of beam fire moved to surround him. Another beam shot came streaking out of the darkness— Shinn batted it aside with his beam shield, glaring up ahead as his foe came charging in.

Inside the Legend Gundam, Rey scowled down at the Destiny.

"You have run loose long enough, Shinn!" he growled. "Our war ends now!"

The Legend's DRAGOONs swarmed around the Destiny— Shinn scowled in frustration, activating the beam wings and taking off over the Legend's head with a blur of afterimages. He dove aside as the two beam spike DRAGOONs streaked towards him— the Legend charged up towards him, beam javelin drawn, and the two mobile suits crashed together as Shinn blocked the javelin with his beam shield.

"I'm not here to fight you!" Shinn snapped. "Kira Yamato is still alive! Where is he?!"

The Legend surged forward, throwing the Destiny back— Shinn rocketed aside as the DRAGOONs opened fire again. "That is not your concern!" Rey shouted. "You will not face him until you have defeated me!"

Shinn blinked in surprise as he felt a new sensation coming from Rey— there was conflict, hatred and disgust clashing with a sense of obligation and duty.

"He's still alive?!" Shinn growled, twisting and turning through a net of beam blasts.

"Another way you let me down, Shinn!" Rey cried, bringing his javelin back down with a crash. Shinn darted away, returning fire with his beam rifle, rocketing upward and letting the DRAGOONs' shots pass through afterimages.

"I chopped the Freedom _in half!_" Shinn snarled. "How could that _not_ kill him?!" He backed away again, firing his rifle— the Legend skirted around his shots and returned fire. "If that's the case, get out of my way and I'll finish the job!"

The Legend's DRAGOONs swarmed again, forcing Shinn back with a blur of afterimages as the Legend gave chase. "Our plans are too far along to let you meddle with them!" Rey shot back; the Legend swung its javelin down, and Shinn barely blocked it with his beam shield. "Whether Kira Yamato lives or dies today is irrelevant! But you will not be allowed to stop us!"

"You're going to destroy the world!" Shinn exclaimed, surging forward and sending the Legend reeling back. The Destiny drew its anti-ship sword with a flash and charged. "Is that your big plan for everyone?! To kill them all?! Is that the world I was fighting for?!"

"What other world will finally stop abusing us?!" Rey answered, the DRAGOONs firing again at the Destiny and forcing it back on the defensive. "What we do now is irrelevant!" The Legend charged, brandishing its javelin. "You are fighting against the fate of the universe!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Strike Rouge rattled as a beam rifle blast from a Blaze ZAKU Warrior landed against its shield— Lunamaria grunted as the Strike Rouge shook, and returned fire with her beam rifle. The ZAKU boosted aside and raised its rifle to fire again—

Another beam shot blew its right arm off, and before the ZAKU could react, the Gaia Gundam took it down with a rifle blast to the back. Luna blinked in surprise as the Gaia rocketed up next to her, deflecting another beam shot and returning fire. The attacking Slash ZAKU Warrior dove aside and went on the defensive.

"Stella!" Luna exclaimed— Stella's eyes widened in surprise as the Gaia's sensors blared. The Gaia kicked the Strike Rouge in the chest, forcing the two mobile suits apart, just in time for a thick green beam to go slicing through space between them. Stella turned her eyes toward the attacker, taking cover behind her shield and putting herself between the enemy and the Strike Rouge.

Up ahead, two Slash ZAKU Warriors were streaking in, escorting a GOUF Ignited painted in black, crisscrossed by jagged white lines, toting a "Barrus" heavy particle cannon. It fired again— the Strike Rouge and Gaia rocketed apart, as the two Slash ZAKUs opened fire with their beam rifles.

"Stella!" Luna cried, as the left-hand ZAKU swept in around her, spraying her position with beam Gatling fire. "We have to get rid of that cannon!"

Stella narrowed her eyes at the attacker, as the second ZAKU stormed in from behind. She somersaulted over its head, spearing it in the back on a beam rifle shot, and charged up towards the GOUF. It rocketed aside, firing its particle cannon again; Stella boosted aside, returning fire with her own rifle, but the GOUF smacked her shots away and took off over her head.

Inside the GOUF, Valentine arched an inquisitive eyebrow at the oncoming Gaia. "So," she murmured with a chuckle, dodging another volley of beam fire. "The little Extended girl who took our famous ace away from us." The Gaia charged, firing again— Valentine cackled gleefully and dove upwards, pounding another particle cannon shot back down towards her. "How scary are you one on one?!"

The Strike Rouge dove in from the side, squeezing off a beam rifle shot towards the GOUF— Valentine scowled and smacked it away with her shield, turning her left-hand beam guns towards the Strike Rouge. The remaining ZAKU came roaring in behind Luna, beam tomahawk upraised— Stella cut it down with a beam rifle shot to the stomach and charged up towards the GOUF.

"Stay back!" Stella shouted. "I'll get this one!"

The GOUF fired its cannon again— Stella jetted aside, returning fire, but the GOUF slithered out of harm's way. Luna raised her beam rifle to open fire— inside the GOUF, Valentine smirked.

"And what do you think _you're_ doing?!" she laughed, whirling around and sending her left-hand heat rod lashing forward. It curled around the Strike Rouge's beam rifle— Luna's eyes widened in surprise, and a moment later, a golden electrical shock went slicing through the delicate weapon. Luna abandoned it as it exploded in a blaze, taking cover behind her shield.

"Dammit!" she grunted. "Stella— "

Valentine glanced back towards the Gaia— her eyes went wide in shock as the Gaia lunged up into her face, blasting her particle cannon in two.

"_What?!_" she screamed, backing away and hurling the broken weapon into the Gaia's face. Stella batted it away as it exploded, switching to her beam saber and charging forward. "Damn you," Valentine growled, "you're better than I thought!"

The GOUF backed away, drawing its beam sword with a flash, and went storming down toward the Gaia.

——————————————————————————————————————————

As the Gunner ZAKU exploded into a cloud of flames, Athrun whirled around, bringing his beam rifle to bear on another charging Slash ZAKU. The ZAKU pulled back behind its shield, firing back with its own rifle, but a moment later Athrun fired his Grapple Stinger forward, clamping it into the ZAKU's side. With a shout, he yanked it forward, impaling it through the cockpit on his boomerang blade, and tossed the sparking wreck away. He turned as more beam shots came streaking in— they landed with a flash against his beam shield, and he raised his beam rifle towards his attacker—

There was a flash of familiar white, black, and blue, and a torrent of beam bolts sent Athrun reeling backward behind his beam shield. He looked in disbelief at his attacker—

"The Freedom!"

Floating before the Infinite Justice, the Strike Freedom Gundam extended its wings. Inside the cockpit, Kira glared up at his opponent.

"There you are," he said quietly. "I didn't think you had died at Antarctica." He flicked on the radio, switching to a broad frequency, narrowing his eye at the Infinite Justice.

Athrun Zala's disbelieving face appeared on the screen.

"_Kira?!_" he exclaimed. "Y-You're alive?!"

Kira's eye burned in rage, and he tore off the right-hand glove of his flight suit, brandishing his skeletal metal arm.

"Look what you've _done_ to me!" Kira screamed, his remaining eye bulging with fury. "First you took Fllay, then you took the Freedom, and _now_ you're taking my own body away from me!"

"What?!" Athrun exclaimed. "I didn't— "

"Enough!" Kira pulled his glove back on, and a moment later, the Strike Freedom took off with a roar, brandishing its beam rifles. "I won't let you take anything else from me!"

The Infinite Justice rocketed over the Strike Freedom's head, firing at its exposed back with his own rifle. The Strike Freedom whirled around, deflecting the shot with its beam shield, and fired back with a full burst from its rifles, railguns, and Callidus cannon. Athrun growled, skirting aside from the shots. "After all that you've destroyed, you have no right to complain about what's been taken from you!" The Infinite Justice stormed forward, switching to its twin beam saber. "Not after you killed Cagalli! Not after you destroyed Orb's future!"

The Strike Freedom switched to its own saber, and the two shining Gundams met with a crash, sparks flying from their clashed sabers. "I won't let you get in the way!" Kira cried. "The world has to change, and I won't let you rob me of my power to change it!"

"What does killing the people who want peace have to do with making the world better!?" Athrun shot back. "You're just a tool! You're just Rau's tool!"

"You're wrong!" Kira shouted. The Strike Freedom surged forward. "We'll have a new world! A better world! _A world where Fllay won't have to die again!_"

"You _goddamned FOOL!_" Athrun roared, charging back against the Strike Freedom and forcing it back with a kick to the chest. Kira growled, backing away and drawing his rifles again.

"I will _make_ you understand, Athrun!" he snarled.

The Strike Freedom's eye flashed— Athrun blinked in surprise as the wings released a plume of sapphire exhaust—

And with a flash, the DRAGOONs took off.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Shit," Yzak grunted, as the Calypso went spiraling back under a hail of beam fire. He glanced up ahead, finding a red mobile suit storming towards him, beam rifle drawn. He magnified the image, and his eyes flashed. "It's her!"

Inside the Savior Gundam, Shiho looked dourly at the Calypso. It was a machine far beyond hers, but she could take it down with enough firepower. She armed the plasma cannons and opened fire— the Calypso darted aside, returning fire with its beam rifle, but she deflected it with her shield, backpedaling as the Calypso closed in, drawing a beam saber.

"Dammit," Shiho growled, backing away and switching to her own saber. "If that's how you want to fight, then come and get me!" The two machines roared together— the Calypso came down with a devastating overhead strike, and Shiho let out a scream as she swung her own saber horizontally to block it.

The side screen activated with a flash— Shiho blinked in surprise, and a moment later, found herself face to face with a scowling Yzak Jule.

"Yzak?!" she exclaimed. The Calypso surged forward, pushing her away, but did not pursue, instead floating before her, beam saber shimmering in the darkness of space.

"What the hell are you still doing out here?!" Yzak snapped. "I thought you had enough sense to leave while you could still get away!"

"I can't do that!" Shiho protested— the Savior rocketed away from the Calypso with a volley of CIWS fire, and Yzak pulled back as the bullets ricocheted harmlessly off his Phase Shift armor. "I'm not going to abandon my country or my people!"

"Your country _and_ your people are going _insane!_" Yzak shouted, plowing through the CIWS bullets and storming towards the Savior. "Are you going to stand aside and let them destroy the world!?"

"This war was thrust upon _us!_" Shiho shot back, as the Savior deflected the Calypso's saber strike with its own. "You were there, Yzak! You _know_ we didn't drop Junius 7, but the Alliance declared war on us as if they did!"

The Calypso surged forward, throwing the Savior back— Yzak charged, saber pulled back. "And you're the ones who invaded the Earth!" he snarled. "Don't act like you're innocent! ZAFT is as guilty as the Alliance!"

Shiho ground her teeth, taking off without a word over the Calypso's head and firing back down on it with her plasma cannons. Yzak artfully slipped by the shimmering red beams, hurling both his beam boomerangs at the Savior's chest.

"This isn't as simple as just killing Naturals!" Yzak shouted. "And it's not going to solve anything if you do! That's what we did _last_ time, and look where it got us!"

"That's because there was no decisive victory!" Shiho responded, batting the Calypso's boomerangs aside with her shield and returning fire with her plasma cannons again. The Calypso rocketed aside, drawing its beam rifle and squeezing off a shot that went searing by the Savior's right leg. "We're trying to end the war too! If we defeat the Alliance in space— "

"Then you'll piss them off and they'll come back again!" Yzak screamed— the Calypso's eyes flashed, and it spiraled through the Savior's plasma cannon volley, charging up towards the Savior and brandishing its saber. "How many more people have to die before you start thinking beyond 'us against them'?! That's not going to solve anything, that'll just get us all killed!"

The Calypso lunged up over the Savior's head, coming down with a powerful overhead swing. Shiho deflected it with her own saber.

"I'm tired of killing people!" Yzak cried, eyes flashing. "If you can't understand, then I'll _tear you down where you stand!_"

"Yzak…" Shiho murmured.

The Calypso rushed forward, pushing the Savior back, and Yzak charged with a scream.

——————————————————————————————————————————

A hurricane of beam blasts ripped across the battlefield, as the DRAGOON units of the Providence Gundam and Akatsuki flashed across space, spewing green bolts at each other as they darted back and forth. The shining Akatsuki spiraled through the bombardment, beam shots landing uselessly against its golden armor, and squeezed off a beam rifle shot towards the hulking Providence.

"You still don't understand!" Rau cackled, jetting aside to avoid the Akatsuki's shot and returning fire with his own beam cannons. "No mere man can stop the will of the world! Not even one such as you, Mwu La Fllaga!"

Mwu scowled, rocketing up over the Providence's shots and drawing his twin saber, as his remote turrets struggled to keep up with Rau's overwhelming DRAGOONs. "Neither can you!" he shouted back, charging towards the Providence and ducking under its beam cannon blasts. "You forget that there are people in the world who will save it!"

"Oh, but they are _easy_ to account for!" Rau laughed. "Look to history! What has happened to every evangel of peace, every soul who thought he could save the world from its own bloodlust?! They thought they could change the world after World War II, but if humans could _really_ see past their own greed and will to dominate, no history book would mention any Cold War or the Oil Wars or the Reconstruction War!"

"That's just your perversion of history!" Mwu snapped, as the Providence ignited its own saber and deflected the Akatsuki's saber blow. "You're not the only one who's suffered because of the Coordinators! Just ask all the families who lost someone at Panama! Just ask all the people who starved and died because of the energy crisis! But you're the only one trying to punish anyone for it!"

"And I have every right to!" Rau cried, surging forward and bringing his saber back down on the Akatsuki's shield. "Humanity declared its reverence for human life, even as it made human life its plaything! Every human civilization has been destroyed at the pinnacle of its greed and corruption! And now so it will be with these Sodomites of the Cosmic Era!"

"_You're not God!_" Mwu screamed, swinging back with his own saber. The Providence backed away, firing its beam rifle, but the shot landed harmlessly against the Akatsuki's golden armor, as Mwu charged back in close. "You have no right to decide who lives and dies!"

"Ah, but I will not!" Rau laughed, stabbing forward with his own saber to block the Akatsuki's horizontal strike. "The world will be punished this time by the pinnacle of all its sins!"

"Kira?!" Mwu exclaimed— the Providence sent the Akatsuki reeling back with a devastating kick to the stomach.

"It is all too fitting!" The Providence vaulted over the Akatsuki's head, showering it with beam shots and moving in with its saber. "The world will perish at the hand of its greatest creation, its most grievous sin!" The Providence came in close with a crash— Mwu barely deflected its saber stroke with his shield. "Perhaps as the fires consume them all, they will realize the irony! But they will all be punished! We, the waste of this Cosmic Era, will _not be forgotten!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"_Minerva_'s position!" Murrue shouted, as the _Megami_ quaked under a barrage of missile explosions too close comfort.

"It's gaining on us, seven o'clock!" Miriallia answered urgently. "Captain, at this rate— "

"Missiles incoming!" Sai interrupted.

Murrue ground her teeth, glaring up at the screen as the _Minerva_ pursued the _Megami_ insistently.

"Captain!" Sai added. "There's an energy flux from the _Minerva!_" He paused. "They're charging their positron cannon!"

"They'll tear through us like tissue paper if they hit us with that Tannhäuser of theirs," Murrue growled. "Neumann, push the engines harder!"

"We're already running at 110 percent!" Neumann protested.

"Then give me 115!" Murrue shot back.

On the bridge of the _Minerva_, Talia narrowed her eyes at the _Megami_. They were on the run and soon to be cornered, but cornered animals fought fiercest.

"Tannhäuser is almost completely charged," Arthur reported. "We can fire as soon as it hits full charge."

"Wait," she instructed. "Let the _Constantinople_ and _Babylon_ get into position first."

On the _Megami_, Murrue watched uneasily as the beam blasts from the two _Eternal_ cruisers sailed over the _Megami_'s hull. There were too many mobile suits out here for three ships. There had to be at least one more—

"Captain!" Sai cried in alarm. "Up ahead!"

Murrue looked up towards the space ahead of them, watching in horror as two more _Eternal_s materialized before her, their guns swinging towards the _Megami_.

"Where did _they_ come from?!" Neumann yelped.

"The Mirage Colloid!" Sai shouted. "Captain, we have to— "

"Steer to port!" Lacus put in suddenly, her eyes dim and wide. Neumann yanked the wheel to the left, and the ship tilted out of the way of a barrage of beam blasts from the two warships. Murrue looked up in disbelief at Lacus— she stared forward resolutely at the screen before her. A white bolt of energy split the air in front of her— "They're coming back," she said dourly.

Murrue pushed it to the back of her mind— there were more important things to worry about now. "We'll have to get creative," she growled.

"Captain, one of the _Eternal_s is swinging around in front of us!" Milly exclaimed.

"Neumann, flank speed, straight towards the enemy ship directly in front of us!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"How can he _use_ these things?!" Athrun snarled, as the Infinite Justice dove through a net of beam fire from the Strike Freedom's DRAGOONs.

"I have these powers too!" Kira cried, pursuing the Infinite Justice and firing its beam rifles wildly. "I have powers you can never hope to have! And I won't let you take them away!"

The Strike Freedom combined its rifles and fired a pulsing green blast down towards the Infinite Justice— Athrun skirted around it and returned fire with his beam rifle, but the DRAGOONs swarmed around him, forcing him back behind his beam shield. "Dammit!" he growled. "Kira…!"

"You won't get in the way!" Kira screamed, as the Strike Freedom charged. "You won't stop us this time! This time the world will be set right!"

"You'll destroy us all!" Athrun shouted. The Infinite Justice drew its twin saber again, spiraling through the DRAGOON blasts and storming towards the Strike Freedom. "Is this really what you wanted?! Is destroying everything really the way you think you can improve the world?!"

Kira's eye flashed furiously, as the Infinite Justice charged, and he stowed his rifles on the Strike Freedom's hips, drawing a beam saber of his own with his right hand. "You don't know anything!" Kira screamed, as the two machines clashed. "And you don't deserve to understand!" The Strike Freedom surged, its engines activating with a roar, sending the Infinite Justice staggering back. "You've taken too much from me, Athrun!" The Strike Freedom raised its saber, coming down with a crash and a staggering overhead strike. "_I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Dearka scowled in frustration as his missiles went streaking across space and hit nothing. Up above, the Force Impulse Gundam slalomed through a wave of beam blasts from the Judicator, firing back with its own beam rifle and forcing Dearka to pull back behind his beam shields.

"Dammit!" he shouted. "This one is good!"

The Mustang rose up behind the Impulse, brandishing its anti-ship swords. The Impulse ducked around the Mustang, opening fire with its beam rifle and forcing Andy back on the defensive.

Inside the Impulse, Aoma narrowed her eyes at the two Alliance Gundams. "They're powerful," she growled. "But they're not invincible!"

The Impulse lunged to the side as the Judicator opened fire with another burst of beam cannon fire. The Mustang came streaking in, brandishing its anti-ship swords— Aoma pulled back as the Mustang brought them to bear with a crash. The Judicator moved in from behind, lining up for a killing shot with its twin beam carbines— Aoma scowled, somersaulting over the Mustang's head and taking off again.

"I can't take these two on with a beam saber," she grunted. "Meyrin! Send me the Sword Silhouette!"

The Mustang came down with another powerful sword swing— the Impulse jetted aside, and an instant later, Aoma threw her shield up in defense as the Mustang tried to cut the Impulse in half with a beam saber-assisted roundhouse kick.

"You're not bad!" Andy chuckled approvingly. The Judicator lined up for a killing shot from behind with its chest cannon— Aoma backflipped over the Judicator's head, and Dearka barely managed to turn and block the follow-up beam saber swipe with his beam shield.

"Now you're just pissing me off!" Dearka shouted.

Aoma looked up at her sensors' insistent beeping, finding the Sword Silhouette streaking by overhead. She pulled away with a beam rifle blast, taking off over her foes' heads. The Judicator opened fire with another beam cannon barrage, but Aoma expertly avoided it, seizing the Sword Silhouette's beam boomerangs and flinging them both at the two Alliance Gundams. Dearka shot them both down easily, cursing, but an instant later the Impulse charged back into the fray, wielding two blue anti-ship swords, and it slammed against the Mustang with a crash, swords clashed.

"Well, now it's getting more interesting," Andy said with a smirk.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Savior ducked under a saber swipe from the Calypso and backpedaled, firing its plasma cannons, but Yzak batted the shots aside with his beam shields and kept on charging.

"I'm not through with you yet!" he screamed, lunging up above the Savior and coming down with a rattling overhead swing.

"I don't want to fight you!" Shiho shouted, pushing back against the Calypso's saber.

"Then don't!" Yzak shot back. The Calypso charged, firing its hyper impulse cannons. The Savior ducked under the shots and deflected the Calypso's follow-up saber strike with its shield. "I'm trying to end this war, and I'm sick of having to fight all my old comrades to do it!"

The Calypso sent the Savior back with a jarring kick to the face, and charged forward, swinging its saber down towards the Savior's right arm. Shiho somersaulted over the Calypso's head, kicking it in the back as she did, and pulled away, switching to her beam rifle.

"You can't ask me to betray my country, Yzak!" Shiho shouted, opening fire with her plasma cannons and forcing the Calypso to pull back, deflecting the shots with its beam shield.

"So you'll be an accomplice to genocide?!" Yzak snapped back, blasting away at the Savior with his beam rifle. "So you'll be an accomplice to whatever evil things Dullindal has planned?! Open your eyes, dammit! ZAFT is no different from the Alliance! I didn't realize that until I'd already lost someone dear to me! Do you want to wind up like that too?! Does the person you care about most have to die before you can finally see the truth?!"

Shiho glared back at Yzak. "I already have," she murmured.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Beam shots blazed around the Destiny as Shinn spiraled through the Legend's DRAGOON barrage. The Legend opened fire with its beam rifle as Shinn approached— the Destiny jetted aside and kept charging, surrounding itself in afterimages and drawing back its anti-ship sword. The Legend swung its beam javelin up as the Destiny came down with a powerful horizontal swing.

"Dammit, Rey!" Shinn shouted, glowering at his hulking foe. "I don't want to kill you!"

The Legend forced the two machines apart with a beam rifle blast, barely deflected by the Destiny's beam shield, and Shinn went back on the defensive as the DRAGOONs swarmed around him. "This is the price you will pay for abandoning the path you were meant to take!" Rey cried, as the Legend squeezed a beam rifle shot through the torrent of DRAGOON blasts. Shinn spiraled around the shots, letting them pass through a wave of afterimages, charging towards the Legend. "You have suffered ever since you abandoned us for Stella! You have lost all your friends, and now you fight your former comrades, those you do not want to kill! _Now_ do you understand?!"

The Legend blocked the Destiny's diagonal sword stroke with its javelin. "You were using me!" Shinn screamed. "The life I have now can't possibly be worse than what _you_ were going to do with me!"

"You will never know now!" Rey exclaimed, as the Legend surged forward, throwing the Destiny back into the range of the DRAGOONs. Shinn growled in frustration, taking off as the beams flashed around him.

"You can leave too!" Shinn shot back, squeezing off a long cannon shot from between the net of beams. The Legend boosted aside, letting the shot tear past. "The Chairman doesn't own you, Rey! He's just using you too! You can break away from him!"

"No!" Rey snarled, his eyes flashing with anger. The Legend and Destiny crashed together again, sword and javelin clashing, sparks flying. "I am a defective clone!" Rey said furiously. "My body is decaying away, and I will die soon! I entrusted my hope for Gil's future to you, because you would live to make it and see it! I entrusted all my hope to you, and you betrayed it, just as my body is betraying me! I will die no matter what you do, but I will not spend the twilight of my life _forgiving your treachery!_"

"Rey…" Shinn gasped, staring in disbelief at the blond boy's scowling face.

"You betrayed more people than the Chairman when you deserted us for that Extended, Shinn," Rey hissed. "So I will destroy you!"

The Legend roared forward, pushing the Destiny back. Shinn glanced over his shoulder in surprise, finding the beam spike DRAGOONs streaking towards his exposed back.

"Now, Shinn," Rey cried, "_go back to oblivion!_"

Shinn's eyes flashed, and he somersaulted over the Legend's head, kicking it in the back. Rey snarled in frustration, diverting his DRAGOONs to open fire on the Destiny.

"I won't let you kill me, Rey!" Shinn shouted, weaving his way through the storm of beam fire and bringing his sword down with a crash on the Legend's javelin blade. "I won't let you destroy everything I have left!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Your naiveté is truly astounding, little Mwu!" Rau laughed, as the Providence's DRAGOONs swarmed around the Akatsuki's remote turrets. "You have lived in this world for thirty years, watching humanity tear itself apart for the sake of its greed, and yet you still think that there is some inherent good in them! Are your eyes blind, or do you just choose not to see?!"

"It doesn't matter what you think of people!" Mwu shouted back, as the Akatsuki dove past the Providence's beam cannon blasts, brandishing its twin saber. "You don't have the right to judge humanity! You're playing God as much as the people who made you were!"

"Only I have the right to render such judgment!" Rau cried, swinging back with his own saber and stopping the Akatsuki's attack. "I hung on their cross, I wore their crown of thorns! Now I have returned and I will carry out my sentence on this broken world!" The Providence put all its force behind its counter-swing, sending the Akatsuki reeling backward. "It is only the acceleration of the inevitable! Someday the world will bring this upon itself! I have merely brought us to the door— it is they who will go through it!"

Mwu clenched his teeth, backing away as the Providence pounded the Akatsuki's golden armor with beam cannon blasts, as the Providence's DRAGOONs and the Akatsuki's remote turrets dueled around them.

"This is the proper path!" Rau shouted. "This is what humanity's greed has brought it! You cannot save them now, Mwu— you never could!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

With a crash and a shriek of twisting metal, the Strike Rouge went staggering back, the GOUF charging after it, shield positioned in front of it. The Gaia lunged up behind the GOUF— it whirled around and blocked the Gaia's saber stroke with its beam sword.

"Leave Luna alone!" Stella shouted, firing the Gaia's thrusters and pushing the GOUF back. "I won't let you hurt her!"

"Damn this little girl!" Valentine snarled, somersaulting over the Gaia's head. She whirled around, deploying her right-hand head rod, but a moment later, the Strike Rouge dropped in to cut in half with a beam saber blow.

__

"I can fight too!" Luna cried, lunging forward towards the GOUF and kicking it in the chest. Valentine grunted as the GOUF went tumbling back, and raised her left arm to open fire with a shower of beam bolts, driving Luna back behind her shield.

"Luna!" Stella exclaimed, vaulting up in front of the Strike Rouge and deflecting the GOUF's beam bolts. "Let Stella fight this one!"

"But Stella— " Luna began.

"Stella won't let Luna get hurt!" The Gaia took off, brandishing its saber, charging up towards the GOUF. Valentine grinned gleefully as the Gaia approached.

"You can't last forever," she chuckled. "You're only an Extended, after all!"

The GOUF charged, sword upraised, and the Gaia swung back to block its downward hack. Valentine laughed and slammed the Gaia upward with a knee to the stomach, then knocking it back with a kick to the face. She raised her left arm and opened fire again—

Valentine's eyes flashed in frustration as her beams dissipated against the Strike Rouge's shield.

"Luna!" Stella exclaimed in surprise.

Luna looked over her shoulder, smiling at Stella. "I won't let you fight alone," she said. "That's not how friends fight."

Up ahead, the GOUF raised its beam sword and charged. Stella glanced back at Luna and smiled, and the two Gundams took off.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Mustang rattled as the Impulse brought both its anti-ship swords down against the Mustang's own two blades. Andy grunted as his mobile suit vibrated under the blows. "Stay back, Dearka!" he instructed. "You'll be more of a threat to me than him at this range!"

"I have to do _something!_" Dearka protested, as the Judicator lined up for a killing shot from behind. The Impulse skirted aside before the Judicator could fire, and Andy pursued with a shot from the Scylla head cannon.

"You have beam sabers, try to get in close!" Andy shot back, bringing both his swords down vertically; the Impulse swung back horizontally, blocking them both. "Dammit, he's good…"

Inside the Impulse, Aoma eyed the Judicator warily. As long as she stayed in melee range, she had the advantage, but that was no excuse not to finish off this red one quickly. She fired the booster, knocking the Mustang back, and with a lightning kick, sent the anti-ship sword in the Mustang's left hand spiraling away. Andy cursed and pulled back as the Impulse combined its swords and brought the blades down on the Mustang's remaining sword.

The Judicator rushed in to the side, catching the sword in one hand and reigniting the blade. "I always wanted one of these bigass swords!" Dearka laughed. Aoma cursed as she noticed the Judicator rocketing toward her, anti-ship sword in hand. She boosted away and took off, detaching her swords, as the Mustang and Judicator gave chase.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Enemy warship is not changing its course!" Sai exclaimed. "Captain, we've got to do something quickly or else we'll collide!"

"Activate the Mirage Colloid!" Murrue ordered. "They're not the only ones who can disappearing tricks!"

The Mirage Colloid came to life with a flash— the _Megami_ vanished. Murrue leaned forward, peering at the _Eternal_-class in front of them as its guns fell silent.

"Neumann, start the maneuver!" Murrue continued. "Romero, Sai, watch the timing! We only have one shot at this!"

The _Megami_'s engines burst to life, and the ship rocketed forward, ponderously tilting and rolling up over the _Eternal_. Murrue watched as the seconds ticked by, agonizingly slowly, as the _Megami_ inversed itself over the enemy warship.

"Drop the Colloid!" Murrue ordered— the _Megami_ returned to the world in flash. "All dorsal guns, _FIRE!_"

The _Megami_'s Gottfrieds and Valiants blared to life, smashing through the _Eternal_ below them and ripping it apart. The _Megami_ slowly righted itself as the ship behind them was broken in two by a massive fireball.

"Enemy ship destroyed!" Sai reported. "The other one is taking damage from debris!"

"Hard to starboard!" Murrue cried. "Gottfrieds, fire as soon as the enemy's in range!"

Another eight beams went lancing out from the _Megami_ and sliced through the second _Eternal_-class, tearing it apart with arms of fire.

On the bridge of the _Minerva_, Talia scowled as the _Babylon_ went down in flames. The captain of the _Megami_ was certainly no amateur.

"Captain!" Arthur exclaimed in disbelief. "They…they destroyed the _Constantinople_ and the _Babylon_…!"

"So I saw," Talia growled. "Signal the _Absolution_ and the _Deliverance_. We're pulling back."

"_What?!_" Arthur cried, turning in his chair. "But we didn't— "

Talia cast him an icy glare. "That's an order," she said sternly.

Arthur turned back to his console, crestfallen. "Yes ma'am…"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shiho glanced at the retreat flares out of the corner of her eye, pulling away from Yzak and the Calypso. The _Minerva_ was ponderously turning away from the battlefield— there were two fields of wreckage that, Shiho presumed, used to be the _Constantinople_ and the _Babylon_.

"This is your last chance, Shiho," Yzak snarled. "Are you going to help Dullindal destroy the world?"

Shiho looked at Yzak; tears welled up in her eyes, and she turned, taking off for the _Minerva_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Retreat flares already?" Rau chuckled, pulling away as Mwu marshaled his remote turrets for a counterattack. "It makes no difference whether you live or die, Mwu! You cannot stop what I have set in motion now!"

The Providence recalled its DRAGOONs and took off, leaving Rau's laughter echoing inside the Akatsuki.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The GOUF shuddered as the Gaia sliced off its left arm at the elbow, sending its shield spiraling away. Valentine growled, noting the retreat flares in the back of her mind, and fired a point-blank beam gun blast at the Gaia, slamming bolts against its shield and driving it back.

"Valentine," Rau's voice chucked as the GOUF took off as fast as its engines could carry it. "Did you have fun playing with the Extended?"

"Shut up," Valentine snapped. "Why are we retreating? We haven't destroyed the Orb Raiders yet."

"The _Constantinople_ and _Babylon_ were destroyed," Rau said with a shrug. "And I suppose Captain Gladys has lost the will to fight."

Valentine glanced over her shoulder, back at the Gaia and Strike Rouge, watching her retreat, and scowled.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Dearka watched with a sigh of relief as the Impulse took off, the _Minerva_'s flares shimmering in the darkness behind it. He glanced at the Mustang and tossed its errant anti-ship sword back at it.

"He was something else, eh?" he chuckled, watching the Impulse retreat.

"It won't be the last we've seen of him," Andy said dourly. He glanced over at the Judicator. "Let's get back to the _Megami_. We won't want to hang around."

——————————————————————————————————————————

The DRAGOONs slammed back onto the Legend's body— Rey scowled hatefully at the Destiny as he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Shinn shouted, rushing towards the retreating Legend. "Rey! You don't have to— "

"I already told you!" Rey shouted, firing a full barrage from the DRAGOONs' beam cannons. Shinn took cover behind his shield, as the force of the beams' impacts sent him reeling backward. "I will not walk the same path you are on!"

The Legend took off into the darkness. Shinn watched him go, silent.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Infinite Justice and Strike Freedom circled each other, firing their beam rifles and barely missing, swinging apart and firing on each other again. Kira snarled in anger as he saw the retreat flares, and opened fire with another full burst, fencing the Infinite Justice in with his DRAGOONs.

"Kira!" Valentine's voice shouted. "We're retreating!"

"I can still beat him!" Kira insisted.

Valentine's eyes flashed angrily. "That's an _order_, Kira!"

Kira blinked in surprise and looked back at the Infinite Justice, as it came charging towards him. He scowled and somersaulted over its head, taking off towards the _Deliverance_. He glanced over his shoulder, scowling, as he recalled his DRAGOONs.

"I swear, Athrun," he murmured, "one day…one day I'll finally kill you!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Lacus sat back on the bridge of the _Megami_, carefully masking her sigh of relief. Murrue rubbed her temples anxiously and glanced up ahead, as the _Megami_'s mobile suits began to return.

"It seems safe to say that ZAFT sees us as a threat," Lacus said quietly. All eyes turned to her. "I think it is our responsibility to find out why."

"Dullindal wants us out of the picture, that's for sure," Sai remarked, wiping the sweat from his brow. "But, um, how are we going to find out what their motives are?"

"At this stage in the war, whatever plans they have for the final battle in space would be coming to fruition," Murrue said, sitting back in her chair. "If they have some kind of weapon, they'll probably be moving it. The Alliance's fleet is gathering at Daedalus Crater, and I have no doubt that ZAFT is gathering a fleet of its own as well."

Lacus glanced across space, towards the Moon, at the dim array of lights beyond it. "Captain," she said, "if I may, I would like us to set course for the PLANTs."

"And find out what Chairman Dullindal is up to," Murrue finished.

Lacus nodded grimly.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	46. Phase 46: The Face of Darkness

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 46 - The Face of Darkness

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 13th, CE 74 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, en route to Lagrange Point 5

"Shinn was fighting his friend," Stella observed quietly, floating next to the brooding youth on the gantry overlooking the _Megami_'s cavernous mobile suit hangar. "Wasn't he?"

Shinn cast a weary glance towards Stella— she stared back blankly at him. He returned his attention to the silent Destiny Gundam, as the mechanics reloaded it for its next battle. He heard Rey's screaming voice again, still ringing in his ears.

_"I entrusted all my hope to you, and you betrayed it, just as my body is betraying me!"_ Rey cried again. Shinn squeezed his eyes shut.

"Shinn always has to fight his friends," Stella murmured. "…because Shinn is protecting Stella."

"I'm not going to abandon you," Shinn said resolutely, glancing up at her. "Even if I have to fight my friends again."

"…but then Shinn wouldn't have any friends…" Stella replied slowly, turning her wide violet eyes towards him. Shinn shook his head.

"I won't leave you," he said, "but…I don't want to hurt Rey either…"

Stella looked up towards the Destiny, her eyes blank. "…Shinn should tell his friend to come here," she said, "…so Shinn doesn't have to fight him anymore…"

Shinn stared down at the floor painfully. "I tried to," he answered. "He doesn't want to." He shook his head again. "It's more complicated than that anyway."

Stella watched Shinn emptily for a moment, and then took a step closer to him, hesitatingly putting her arms around him. Shinn blinked at her, a blush spreading over his face, as Stella pulled him close. "Stella is sorry…that she's making Shinn fight his friends…"

"It's not your fault," Shinn sputtered. "I told you I'd protect you no matter what."

"But what about Shinn?" Stella asked, lifting her gaze up into his eyes. "Shinn should be happy too…"

"I'm trying to, Stella," Shinn said, glancing bitterly at the Destiny.

Stella paused for a moment, before resting her head gently against Shinn's chest. "Stella wants to make Shinn happy…"

"Wha— ?!" Shinn exclaimed, looking back at her, his face reddening. "Stella— "

"Stella doesn't want Shinn to be alone," Stella murmured.

Shinn smiled and gently put his hands on Stella's shoulders. "When the war is over," he said, "then we can be happy."

Stella smiled back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, en route to Lagrange Point 5

Aoma glanced hesitantly at Rey as he stared emotionlessly at the silent backdrop of space, gliding by as the _Minerva_ raced towards Lagrange Point 5. Their orders were clear— to join the burgeoning ZAFT fleet at Lagrange Point 5 for their final blow against the Earth Alliance, to take on a quick resupply, and to charge forth to their destiny, whatever it may be. However, they had not yet come to that final reckoning, and since there was little for the Impulse's pilot to do now that the mobile suit was repaired and reloaded, she found herself carefully watching the cold young man as he stared out into the inky sky.

"It's pointless to say anything," Rey said quietly, not turning to face her.

"Maybe it is to you," Aoma answered, stepping up next to him and risking a glance at his emotionless face. "But I don't want to watch anymore of the people whose sides I'm fighting by die."

Rey turned his cold blue eyes towards her. "That is how human life works," he said. "They are selfish and destroy each other. And those who survive are left with their sorrow." He scowled. "There is no sense in trying to oppose it. One can only fight for the day when people will understand."

Aoma watched him as he stared bitterly at outer space. "If you don't have anyone you care about," she said carefully, "then you've forgotten why you're fighting."

Rey narrowed his eyes and said nothing. Aoma shook her head.

"It _was_ pointless," she sighed, and she turned and left.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, en route to Lagrange Point 5

"'The world will perish at the hands of its greatest creation,'" Lacus repeated solemnly, glancing over at Mwu, standing next to her on the observation deck. "He's going to use Kira."

Mwu snorted in disgust. "He's been using Kira for a long time now," he grunted. "Knowing Rau, he'll probably use some kind of technological weapon. He wouldn't settle for anything slower and subtler."

"Then ZAFT must have some manner of endgame weapon that they intend to use against the Alliance," said Lacus, looking back at the panorama of outer space before her. She cast her eyes to the left, at the Earth. "And Kira will probably be defending it."

"If we want to destroy that weapon, we'll have to go through him," Mwu concluded, grimly following Lacus's gaze to the Earth.

"I understand," Lacus said at last, closing her eyes somberly. "We must uncover this weapon and destroy it now, before it can be used."

Mwu shook his head. "I don't want to fight Kira," he said. "We'll try to talk him down, but…"

"Our purpose takes precedence over my personal feelings," Lacus said; Mwu blinked as he heard her voice falter. "If we must fight Kira in order to protect the world from people like Rau, then will have to fight Kira."

Mwu shifted uncomfortably. "We'll be in PLANT airspace soon," he said awkwardly. "I'm going to go check on the Akatsuki."

As Mwu rounded a corner and disappeared, Lacus shook her head and turned away from the windows, a trail of tears following her.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, en route to Lagrange Point 5

As the mechanics hurriedly reloaded the Strike Freedom Gundam's railguns, Kira watched from the overhead gantry, arms crossed. He glanced to his right at the sound of footsteps, and dutifully saluted as Rau Le Creuset alighted on the deck next to him.

"I understand you confronted Athrun again," Rau said, duly returning Kira's salute.

"I failed to kill him again," Kira said quietly. "Even with this new machine."

Rau put his hands on the railing, leaning down and peering inquisitively at the Strike Freedom. "Push Athrun from your mind," he instructed. "He is irrelevant and powerless now. What we have started is too powerful for he or Lacus Clyne to stop now." He glanced at Kira. "They will, of course, try to stop us when ZAFT launches its final attack on the Earth Alliance forces. That is when you shall have your revenge."

Kira nodded soberly. "I will have to protect the Sword," he said.

"And when it fires, we will inherit a new world," Rau said, smiling. "It will be the painful birth of a new world where we will not have to suffer."

Kira smiled back. "I won't fail this time," he said. "This time we'll have peace."

Rau grinned. "This time we'll have peace."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 14th, CE 74 - PLANT Airspace, Lagrange Point 5

"Six _Nazca_-class destroyers are moving forward towards us," Sai reported dourly as the _Megami_ sailed into the territory of the PLANTs. "They're launching mobile suits! At least thirty ZAKUs approaching fast!"

All eyes turned to the bridge windows, at the massive form of the ZAFT fleet, and the twisted, alien structure of ZAFT's new headquarters, Messiah, cruising forward steadily.

"ZAFT likely has a new weapon of some kind, along the lines of GENESIS from the Valentine War," Lacus said, staring resolutely at the approaching ZAFT fleet. "Everyone, we must find and destroy that weapon at all costs."

"Murasame teams, stay close to the ship," Murrue added. "Commander Bartfeldt, your team will go forward into the fleet to find this weapon."

Andy smirked, closing the helmet of his visor. "Alright, boys and girls," he said with a chuckle. "Bartfeldt team, launch!"

Inside the Destiny, Shinn scowled. Rey was somewhere out there.

"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, _going out!_"  
The Destiny took off with a flash, spiraling into the black sky over the _Megami_ and falling into formation next to the Gaia and the Infinite Justice. Shinn looked up ahead, at the imposing form of ZAFT's advance fleet. It was moving forward, leaving the Orb Raiders with a narrow window of time during which they could find and destroy whatever new weapon ZAFT was planning on using. If they failed, the _Megami_ and her mobile suits would have to pull back, or be forced to take on the entire ZAFT fleet.

"Heat sensors are picking up a huge spike somewhere up there," Athrun said grimly, as the Gundams shot forward. "But there's too much interference to pinpoint it."

"That must be what we're looking for," Andy said. "All units, lock onto the heat spike and find it!"

The ZAFT mobile suits came charging towards them— Shinn narrowed his eyes and engaged the booster, blasting through their ranks and sweeping his blazing beam wings through their ranks. The devastated first squadron tried to shoot at his exposed back, but a moment later a beam cannon volley from the Judicator cut them down.

"Don't forget about us!" Dearka shouted. "You're not the only hero here, Asuka!"

The Destiny went spiraling through another volley of beam fire; Shinn's eyes flashed and he returned fire with his beam rifle, as dozens of afterimages filled the sky around him, and beam shots went searing through the shimmering illusions. Three Blaze ZAKU Warriors went down in flames before they were able to take evasive maneuvers— Shinn scowled, charging towards a Gunner ZAKU and crushing its cockpit with a palm cannon blow. He whirled around, squeezing off a long beam cannon shot that drilled through the back of another ZAKU, and turned again, taking off towards the ZAFT advance fleet.

"They're just small change!" Mwu shouted, as the Akatsuki's remote turrets formed up around it, sending beam shots sailing wide of their targets.

"We can't ignore them!" Yzak shot back, as the Calypso somersaulted over a ZAKU and speared it through the head with a beam rifle blast.

Shinn took off towards the fleet, brandishing his anti-ship sword. "I'll do it!" he shouted, diving through a wave of beam shots. The _Nazca_s opened fire with a swarm of anti-ship missiles, arcing towards the Destiny.

"Shinn!" Athrun shouted, as the Infinite Justice shot down a ZAKU with a beam shot to the cockpit. "What the hell are you— "

Shinn cut him off with a scream; the Destiny's eyes flashed, and the cloud of missiles veered off course, wheeling around and streaking back towards the ZAFT ships.

"W-What the hell was _that!?_" Lunamaria shouted, as the ZAKUs stopped cold, staring in disbelief as their motherships were battered by their own missiles. Shinn took off towards the ships, sword drawn back, and with a scream, sent it plunging down into the hull of the first vessel, tearing its prow open. He charged along the ship's hull, slicing the hangar bay open, and pumped a beam cannon blast through the vessel's innards. The ship broke in two with a flash of fire— Shinn roared up over the fireball and fired off another cannon shot, tearing through the port missile assembly of the next _Nazca_.

A wave of beam shots came down around the Destiny as Shinn charged towards his wounded prey— he pulled up, veering back and scanning the skies for his attacker. A sensation of danger pricked his senses— he turned, swinging his sword up to defend as a beam blade came crashing down on it.

As the ZAFT mobile suits went on the counterattack and the wounded _Nazca_ returned the Orb Raiders' fire, Shinn glared up at the Legend Gundam.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Lacus stared stoically at the irritated face of Gilbert Dullindal on the main screen above her.

"I thought we would have to fight you again," Gilbert said, cavalier as ever. "However, I did not expect you to be so bold as to bring that fight to us."

"Few do," Lacus answered coolly. "We have come to stop you from destroying the world."

Gilbert snorted in amusement. "You believe _I_ am going to destroy the world?" He shook his head. "Miss Clyne, it was the Alliance who started this war."

"And it was you who escalated it," replied Lacus. The _Megami_ quaked as outside, a Murasame shot down a charging ZAKU with its beam rifle. "I know that you came to power by assassinating Chairwoman Canaver. I know that you have overseen a ZAFT military buildup to rival the Atlantic Federation. I know that you had a hand in the fall of Junius 7. And I know that you and Commander Le Creuset have orchestrated this war."

Gilbert arched an eyebrow at her, his visage never cracking. "Such tall accusations you throw at me," he chuckled. "Miss Clyne, you are a kindhearted person, but you are now meddling with forces far beyond your reckoning. Cease your attack at once."

Lacus narrowed her eyes. "We cannot do that," she said flatly. "If we do not stop you, you will destroy us all."

Gilbert smirked. "I will not destroy the world, Miss Clyne," he said, shaking his head. "I will _remake_ it."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Beam shots went flashing around the Akatsuki as Mwu scanned his opponents. The crimson Savior Gundam opened fire with its plasma cannons and beam rifle— the shots went bouncing off the Akatsuki's armor. The Force Impulse Gundam lined up for a killing shot behind him— he swung around and drove it off with a beam rifle blast of his own.

Inside the Savior, Shiho scowled. "Aoma, keep trying to get around him!" she shouted. "We'll have to get in close…"

"He can't be invincible!" Aoma shouted, swinging around the Akatsuki and squeezing off another shot. It landed harmlessly against the golden armor, as the Akatsuki swung around to return fire and force the two mobile suits back with a storm of remote fire. The Savior charged through the beam shots, drawing a beam saber, and slammed it down against the Akatsuki's shield. The Impulse moved in from behind, its own saber drawn and pulled back.

"Oh no you don't!" Mwu shouted, drawing the Akatsuki's double saber and blocking the Impulse's attack with the bottom blade. The remote turrets opened fire again, sending the Savior and Impulse back behind their shields under a beam barrage.

"Circle him!" Shiho ordered. "I'll keep him busy in the front!"

Mwu scowled, pulling his remote turrets in around him, as the Impulse and Savior charged.

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Stella charged towards the desperate Blaze ZAKU Warrior, beam saber drawn, and hacked effortlessly through the beam tomahawk it hurled at the oncoming Gaia. The ZAKU tried to raise its beam rifle— Stella rocketed into its face, impaling it through the cockpit on her saber, and kicked the sparking machine away as it exploded. She swung around, slapping a beam shot from another ZAKU aside with her shield. It drew its tomahawk as it dropped down towards the Gaia, but a beam rifle blast pierced its left arm, blowing it off with the tomahawk still attached. Stella seized the chance, slashing the wounded ZAKU in half at the waist, and glanced up at the mobile suit that had assisted her.

The Strike Rouge dropped in next to the Gaia. "I told you, I can fight too," Luna said with a grin.

A Gunner ZAKU Warrior lined up for a killing shot through the two Gundams— the Gaia took off, drawing its beam rifle, while the Strike Rouge opened fire and forced it back. Stella lunged over it with a scream, drilling a beam shot through its back, and turned as it exploded behind her.

"Where's Shinn…?" Stella murmured, as the Gaia swung around to pick off another ZAKU. The Strike Rouge drew back behind his shield, as a quartet of beam blasts slammed into it, and returned fire with her beam rifle.

"He's fighting that new unit!" Luna exclaimed. Stella glanced up ahead, finding the Destiny rocketing back and forth as a cyclone of beam blasts surrounded it, spearing its translucent afterimages.

"Will Shinn be okay…?" Stella asked— the Gaia dodged another volley of beam fire and drew back behind its shield.

"Shinn will always be okay!" Luna shouted. "Now let's show these guys how to fly!"

Stella looked over at the Strike Rouge. She smiled and took off towards the ZAFT mobile suits.

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"You are always standing in the way, Shinn!" Rey snarled, as the Legend moved in with beam javelin drawn. "Now you have even come to our doorstep to fight us! You will regret this, I swear!"

"Don't threaten me!" Shinn snapped, swinging his sword towards the Legend in a devastating overhead arc to stop the Legend's javelin. Shinn fired the booster, throwing the Legend back further— Rey scowled and swarmed his DRAGOONs around the Destiny, forcing to pull back behind its shimmering beam shields.

"I have nothing more to say to you," growled Rey, as the Legend opened fire with its beam rifle. "I will not betray the future the way you did!"

"Damn you, Rey!" Shinn shouted, firing a blazing beam cannon shot at the Legend's chest— it skirted aside effortlessly as the Destiny sailed backwards, letting its afterimages take the brunt of the Legend's DRAGOON attack. "I thought you were a Newtype too!" The Destiny spiraled through another web of beam blasts, drawing its sword back. "_I thought you could understand me!_"

"I will not put one person above the fate of the world!" Rey shot back, as the Legend swung in and the two Gundams crashed together. "Your treachery has ensured that there will never be a world where _everyone_ can understand!"

"Don't try to blame me!" Shinn cried, the Destiny surging forward. The Legend somersaulted over its head— Shinn whipped around and slapped the Legend's rifle shot aside with his beam shield, taking off as the DRAGOONs moved in again. "I can't change the world! I'm only one person!"

"You're wrong!" Rey exclaimed, rocketing up after the Destiny. "_You are a Newtype!_" The DRAGOONs flashed in around the Destiny— Shinn boosted towards the Legend, sword upraised, but the Legend stopped its overhead slash with a horizontal javelin swipe. "You have the power to see the future, to see into the hearts of human beings! And yet you do not use that power to bring an end to all this pointless conflict! You take part in it! You _escalate_ it! For that you should _never_ be forgiven!"

"_These powers are for more than fighting wars!_" Shinn screamed, his eyes flashing, as he put all his force behind his sword and threw the Legend back. "_I will not believe that our powers are meant to kill people!_"

"Many before you have said that!" snapped Rey, as he put his DRAGOONs between his reeling Legend and the charging Destiny. "All of them failed to realize that until the very end, they were merely tools of their superiors!"

"_I DON'T CARE!_" Shinn roared, as the Destiny slalomed through a wave of beam shots and came down onto the Legend with a crash. "You and the Chairman and Rau and your Newtype bullshit can all go to hell! I don't have to dwell on all the mistakes _they_ made! _I have a life of my own!_"

The Legend regained its footing, vaulting away from the Destiny and surrounding it with beam shots. "You shall see for yourself, Shinn!" he cried. "And when our new world is made, you will not be a part of it!"

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"What in the _hell_ is that guy _doing?!_" Yzak snapped, as the Calypso dodged a storm of beam fire from a GOUF Ignited and swept in, beam saber raised, to bring it down with a shriek onto the GOUF's shield.

"He's tied up fighting the Legend!" Athrun shouted back, slaloming through a volley of beam fire and cutting a Blaze ZAKU Warrior down with his beam saber as he shot by.

"Should we help him?!" Dearka asked urgently, as the Judicator backed away from a beam rifle barrage by a trio of ZAKUs. The Mustang leapt up behind them, cutting two of them in half with its anti-ship swords.

"We won't stand a chance against that thing!" Andy barked, as the Mustang swept around the third ZAKU and cut in half with a beam saber-assisted kick. "Just let Shinn handle it! He's fought that thing to a standstill before!"

The Calypso ducked under a heat rod strike and cut the snaking weapon in half, charging up into the GOUF's face and impaling it on its beam saber. "Well, we don't have time for that!" hissed Yzak. A ZAKU came storming at him from behind, beam tomahawk raised— Yzak whirled around, slashing its arm off as it approached and kicking it aside, where the Judicator tore it apart with a beam cannon volley. "We don't have time for _this_ either!"

Athrun fired his Grapple Stinger forward, catching a Gunner ZAKU by the left arm, and yanked it towards him, slamming his boomerang blade through its cockpit. "We'll just have to rely on Shinn!" The Infinite Justice whirled around, cutting down another charging ZAKU with its beam rifle. "Shinn, hurry it up! The ZAFT fleet is getting closer!"

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Shinn clenched his teeth angrily as the Destiny spiraled away from the Legend, dodging relentless beam fire from the invisibly fast DRAGOONs. He glanced back at the Legend, finding it leveling off its beam rifle for a finishing blow— the Destiny lurched aside and dove backwards. Shinn glanced over his shoulder, at the space behind him, and pulled up as he found himself approaching some kind of complex machine. He whirled around, finding the ZAFT logo printed on the front panel, and cut it in half with his sword. There was a blinding flash of light in front of him—

The battlefield went silent as a dark clawed structure materialized before the Destiny Gundam.

Shinn's eyes widened disbelievingly. "W-What the hell is _this?!_"

The Legend swung in, its DRAGOONs spewing beam fire. "_Get away from the Sword!_" Rey screamed, ramming the Destiny with its shoulder and pushing it aside. Shinn narrowed his eyes— a beep sounded from his console, and he glanced over at the auxiliary screen.

"You shall go no further, Shinn," an all-too-familiar voice said.

Shinn's eyes flashed in anger. "_You!_"

The face of Gilbert Dullindal scowled back. "We finally meet again, Shinn Asuka," he said. "But now you have committed terrible crimes. Crimes that shall not go unpunished."

"Go to hell!" Shinn shouted. "I don't need you using me as some kind of human weapon to make me happy, you manipulative bastard!"

The Legend rushed forward, javelin raised— Shinn somersaulted over its head and took off towards the imposing new structure.

"I don't know what the hell this is," he growled, "but _I'm going to destroy it!_"

The Legend's DRAGOONs flashed back around the Destiny, forcing it on the defensive. "I will not let you destroy the Sword!" Rey shouted, sweeping in with a jarring beam javelin swing.

"You have troubled us on the periphery of the world long enough, Shinn," Gilbert said dourly, glowering at him as the Destiny arced away and dove through Rey's DRAGOON fire. "You failed to understand; thus, you shall perish!"

"_I_ failed to understand?!" Shinn repeated, eyes blazing as the Destiny ripped its way through another DRAGOON volley. "_You_ are the one using us to take over the world! _You_ are the one who will get everyone killed for some damned world where you can be king!"

"That is not what our new world will be like!" Gilbert shot back. "We will build a world where _everyone_ will have the powers you use and abuse!"

"Then what the hell is _this_ thing for?!" snapped Shinn, diving aside from a javelin stab by the Legend and kicking it away. He turned and rocketed towards the mysterious dark structure, brandishing his anti-ship sword. "Don't tell me this thing's going to lead to peace! It just looks like a weapon to me!"

"This is the Sword that will change the world!" Rey cried, his DRAGOONs fencing the Destiny in and pushing it away from the structure. "Solomon's Sword will mend this broken world, and I will not let you stop it!"

Shinn scowled as he dove around the Legend's beam shots, throwing his sword up to block the Legend's javelin strike. "Damn you, Rey!" he shouted. "Do you really think killing everyone is going to make this world _better?!_"

"For all your power, you still fail to understand," Gilbert scoffed. "We shall succeed where history has failed."

"And you'll build a world of understanding based on killing?!" Shinn snapped, whirling around and dodging more beam shots. "You're just some genocidal madman! You're not going to help anybody, otherwise you wouldn't have this thing!"

"The world can only be remade by fire and destruction!" Gilbert fired back, glaring back at Shinn. "Out of death will come birth! That is the way of nature herself! You cannot oppose a force that strong!"

"But I can stop you from forcing it to happen!" Shinn screamed, knocking the Legend aside with a jarring kick to the side of the head and charging down at Solomon's Sword. "_I can stop you from toying with the world!_"

The Legend lunged up into the Destiny's path, stopping it cold with a downward javelin hack. Shinn glowered at the Legend through the flying sparks.

"Shinn!" Athrun's voice cried through the speaker. "Pull back! We're retreating!"

"We're _what?!_" Shinn exclaimed.

"The fleet is opening fire on the _Megami!_" Athrun said, his face grim. "We can't stay here any longer!"

"But Solomon's Sword is still there!" Shinn protested. The Legend pushed the Destiny back, floating between it and Solomon's Sword, glowering and daring Shinn to press his attack.

"We'll never get another chance if we die here!" Athrun said. "Now _pull back!_"

Shinn glared up at the Legend, at Gilbert, and at the Sword. He squeezed his eyes shut and took off back towards the _Megami_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation Daedalus Crater lunar base, the Moon

A hollow _clang_ sounded through the hangar as the shuttle's airlock tube was clamped into place, and as the doors opened, Lord Djibril could not help but smile.

Arrayed before him were thousands of soldiers, standing at attention at the feet of a line of gleaming new Windams. Djibril glanced over his shoulder at Joseph Copland, as the President of the Atlantic Federation brushed by him to step forward into the hangar.

"Never before has there been an impending battle as significant as this one," he chuckled. "History shall honor us as the men who crushed the Coordinators."

"This is not worth it," Copland said pointedly. Djibril arched an eyebrow at him. "Millions of people will die in this battle," he continued, shaking his head. "We must pursue peace, Djibril. We must stop this madness before it consumes us all."

Djibril scoffed. "Caesar did not stop at the Rubicon because he feared the slaughter that would follow; neither shall we." He turned his gaze back towards the army before him. "Even if we did make peace with the Coordinators, it would only be a matter of time before war broke out between us and them again anyway. This battle is inevitable." He smiled. "And I no longer wish to put it off."

"Millions of Naturals will die," Copland protested. "Millions of our own people will die, just so that we can wipe out a few million people who are up against the wall and have nowhere else to go. Is killing this cornered rat that important to you?"

Djibril cast a heavy sigh. "Mr. President," he said airily, "we stand on the brink of a great moment in history. The final extermination of these parasitic affronts to the natural order— the arrogance and hubris of the Coordinators will end. No man shall hang above our heads superior genetics that fate did not bestow them with. No man shall have the power to be superior when none else can be. We will wipe them out."

"You are a madman," Copland spat. "You are a murderous, vicious, genocidal madman."

Djibril snorted in disgust. "The greatest men of history have been branded as such," he scoffed. "Do not forget, Mr. President, who I am and what you have done. I will not let anyone stand between me and my destiny, not even you." He cast a burning eye towards the silent President. "Now then," he said, gesturing towards the waiting army, "Ragnarok awaits."

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****

Orb Space Fleet _Izumo_-class battleship _Amaterasu_, Atlantic Federation Daedalus Crater lunar base

"Admiral, we have not yet received orders authorizing a sortie. Are you sure we should be doing this?" the captain asked warily, glancing towards his commandeered chair. Dressed in his pressed and decorated Orb uniform, Jona Roma Seiran scowled viciously.

"We are not going to let those terrorists have their way," he growled. "Our country has been robbed from us, but our dignity and our strength has not. We shall use both to silence the followers of Cagalli Yula Athha forever." His eyes flashed hatefully. "Orb Space Fleet, launch! Target: the Orb Raiders flagship _Megami!_"

The engines came to life with a rumble, and the ships began to move.

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To be continued…


	47. Phase 47: The Destiny Plan

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

EDIT 02/26/2009 - For some reason it never took the first time, but there is a change to this chapter from the original version. I apologize for the, err, unprofessionalism of all this.

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Phase 47 - The Destiny Plan

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**January 15th, CE 74 - ZAFT mobile space fortress Messiah, en route to the Moon**

Rey gazed down hesitantly at the shiny, stylized badge of FAITH in his hand. He looked back up at Gilbert Dullindal, sitting grimly behind his desk, fingers interlaced, watching Rey stoically.

"Use this power to protect the Sword from all manner of enemies," Gilbert instructed. Rey saluted sharply. "The war is almost over. We must not falter now."

"I understand," Rey said quietly. Gilbert glanced at him, arching an eyebrow.

"You are dismissed," he said. Rey saluted again and took his leave, drifting out the door.

He gazed down numbly at the shiny badge still clenched in his fist. It was an award for skill, and a token of trust.

Rey scowled as he clipped it to his lapel. Gil trusted him, and always had, so this shiny token meant little more than an affirmation of that which he already knew. It only gave him the power to do what no normal ZAFT soldier could be tasked with, something he had done since the beginning of this war.

He looked back down at it. They had said that Shinn would be given this badge. Rey scowled— only the trustworthy could be endowed with the power of a FAITH member.

Rey alighted against a railing overlooking a mobile suit hangar. He gazed down below at the workers and mechanics as they strove to prepare a legion of ZAFT mobile suits of all conceivable make and model for the impending battle. And yet he could not shake the unbearable feeling that it would all be for naught— that somehow, Gil would be stopped; that somehow, Shinn would find the power or the trick to bringing the two warring sides to a halt, to stalling the world in this swamp of hatred and warfare.

Rey shook his head. Shinn would not understand.

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**Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, en route to the Moon**

As the mechanics reloaded the Judicator's CIWS guns, Dearka Elthman cast a surprised glance down the catwalk at Miriallia as she ambled towards him. She smiled warmly as she steadied herself next to him against the railing.

"They let you out of the bridge?" Dearka asked with a smirk. Milly huffed with mock indignation and looked down with a smile at the hangar floor.

"Only for a little bit," she said. "I thought I'd go and spend my time off with a friend."

Dearka smiled back. "Good to see where I rank," he chuckled. "So what do you wanna do when this is all done?"

Milly glanced at him with an arched eyebrow. "If you're asking me to marry you— "

"Oh, no," Dearka interrupted, shaking his head and laughing. "My silly male mind won't be able to wrap itself around the concept of commitment for another ten years at least." He looked back at her. "But seriously…what are you going to go after this is all over?"

Milly gazed back down towards the hangar floor soberly. "I haven't thought about that," she said. "I'd rather survive it all so that when it _is_ all over, I have a whole world of opportunities in front of me to choose from then."

"That's what we're all fighting for," Dearka said with a nod. "No lunatic with a mask can take it away from us."

"I guess all those stories you hear about friendships from war are true, then," Milly added, smiling. "I never wanted to fight, but now that I'm here, if I could go back and change it, I'd do it all the same way again."

Dearka nodded again. "In the end," he said, "we still have each other."

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Casting a wary glance across the observation deck, Shinn eyed Lacus Clyne carefully as she gazed at the stars. She had called him here to talk, but he could not sense what about…although the emotional turmoil churning inside her, the turmoil only she and he could feel, was probably a good hint.

"That machine," Lacus began, "that you were fighting against yesterday…who is its pilot?"

Shinn arched an eyebrow at her. "He's an old friend of mine," he said quietly. "When I left ZAFT, our friendship sort of…frayed."

Lacus turned her surprised eyes towards Shinn. "You have been fighting your friend all this time?" she asked. Shinn looked back out at space, nodding.

"Rey and Gilbert were using me," he said flatly. "They wanted me to fight for the sake of some future where everyone would be a Newtype." He turned back towards Lacus. "I couldn't do it, and I couldn't let Stella die, so I left."

Lacus glanced back towards the stars. "Kira and Athrun faced the same situation," she said. "However, they reconciled their differences and learned to fight together."

"And look where they are now," Shinn snorted. "Rey won't join us; he hates me now. And I won't go back; I promised Stella I would protect her. So our destiny is just to fight each other until one of us is dead."

Lacus turned towards Shinn, regarding him sadly. "Do you accept that?" she asked. Shinn glanced back at her, eyebrow arched.

"Do I have a choice?" he asked back. "Rey and I are not Kira and Athrun." He looked back out the windows. "After all, I _did_ betray him."

Lacus was quiet for a moment. "How did you betray him?" she asked.

Shinn glanced back at her. Rey had told him his deepest secret— would it matter to tell Lacus?

He shook his head. "It had to do with the Chairman," he said. Lacus turned towards him, surprised; Shinn sensed it and held back a sigh. "Rey is…well, he's not well. He won't live much longer."

"He is a clone," Lacus concluded. Shinn glanced at her himself. "His presence felt strange…like that of Commander Le Creuset, but somehow altered."

"He said his telomeres are short," Shinn went on resignedly. "Chairman Dullindal had a plan to build some new world where everyone would be a Newtype. Rey was fighting for the sake of that world. He wanted me to carry on the fight, since he can't." Shinn shook his head. "But I couldn't do that, not at Stella's expense. So I left, and I took that dream with me."

Lacus paused. "And you do not regret your choice," she added.

"Why should I?" Shinn asked. "If I had stayed, Stella would have died, and I'd just be a tool for the Chairman." He closed his eyes unhappily. "If he joined us now, I'd forgive him, and hopefully he would forgive me, and we could spend whatever time he has left as friends, not enemies. But I couldn't do what he asked of me."

Looking back at the stars, Lacus was silent a moment. "War is a truly terrible thing," she said quietly, "if it can turn friends into enemies."

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**Atlantic Federation Daedalus Crater lunar base, the Moon**

Lord Djibril smiled as he sat back in his chair in the Daedalus Crater control room. Arrayed before him on the main screen, stretched out across the forward wall, was an overview of the Daedalus base's defenses. It was formidable indeed— in addition to a fleet of nearly two thousand warships and nearly fifty thousand mobile suits, Daedalus Crater was protected by five Destroy Gundam units, a wing of powerful mobile armors, and thirty thousand automated Mobius units. He glanced at a side screen, displaying an overview of the humming mobile suit factories, as they churned out a wing of Exus mobile armors for the use of their unstoppable Extended. Already, the Exus units produced were being fitted with nuclear missiles. Even if ZAFT threw their entire fleet at Daedalus, they would not be able to punch through these defenses.

At his side, Neo Roanoke nodded as a black-uniformed Special Forces lieutenant drifted up next to him with a clipboard. Djibril glanced up at Neo, as he dismissed the lieutenant.

"Vice Admiral Stone's fleet has arrived," Neo said. "We're almost at full combat capacity."

Djibril sat back, satisfied. "I am having the -X723 Apocalypse shipped here for your use," he said. "But for now we shall wait, and let ZAFT make the first move. Once their fleet sets out from the PLANTs, it will be powerless to stop the Requiem."

Neo glanced at the main screen, as it displayed the battle plan against a green wire grid. "Shouldn't we fire the Requiem at the PLANTs while their fleet is still there?" he asked. Djibril laughed and shook his head.

"And rob ourselves of the glory of conquering the Coordinators in battle?" He smiled. "No, Neo, we will strike down their homes while they are left undefended, and as we burn their fleet alive, they can turn back and look upon the burning homes."

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**ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, Lagrange Point 5**

Outside the observation deck windows, a GINN Trainer laden with mobile suit weapons drifted by, flanked by a CGUE armed to the teeth with machineguns. Kira watched it pass by emotionlessly, as it angled towards a nearby _Laurasia_-class frigate. He had, conceivably, one more chance to destroy Athrun.

He watched as a pair of GINN Trainers loaded Valentine's new mobile suit into the _Deliverance_'s hangar— what looked like a ZAKU Phantom in dark gray, equipped with the Legend Gundam's backpack; the Providence ZAKU, they had called it.

He glanced over his shoulder as Valentine drifted onto the observation deck; she greeted him with a thin smile and a gentle kiss.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked, steadying herself against the railing.

"Nothing important," Kira answered quietly. Valentine eyed him carefully for a moment.

"The Chairman will be making his move soon," she continued. "The time to use the Sword is coming."

"I will defend it," Kira resolved, looking up determinedly at the stars. "Our new world will come, one way or another. I will not let Athrun stand in its way."

"Of course you won't," Valentine said soothingly. "And this time," she added, whispering in his ear, "you'll kill him."

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**January 16th, CE 74 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, orbit of the Moon**

"Captain!" Sai exclaimed, as Murrue burst onto the bridge. "Twelve warships are coming at us from twelve o'clock! Distance, 7600 and closing!"

"Who is it now?" she snapped, sliding into her seat. She scowled up at the imposing array of twelve _Izumo_-class battleships. "Is that Orb?!"

"They're launching mobile suits!" Milly added. "At least forty Murasames!"

Murrue studied the image of the fleet for a moment. "Launch our own mobile suits," she said. "Orb is coming to finish our longstanding fight."

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**Orb Space Fleet _Izumo_-class battleship _Amaterasu_, orbit of the Moon**

"We have entered the _Megami_'s sensor radius," the deckhand reported. "The enemy ship appears to be activating its weapons and mobile suit catapults."

Jona glowered up ahead at the dark and intimidating form of the _Megami_. They had dogged him throughout the Seiran family's all-too-brief rule in Orb, they had eluded his _Takemikazuchi_ Fleet, and their ineptitude had robbed him of Orb's finest political prize. But now he had them cornered and caught by surprise— finally the Orb Raiders would die.

"Launch all mobile suits," he ordered, "and move in to engage the _Megami_ at point blank range."

He scowled as the Orb Raiders' distinctive mobile suits began to take off, charging towards his fleet.

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The beams went flashing by the Akatsuki as Mwu drew back behind his shield, skirting around desperate beam rifle shots from a squadron of Murasames. A beam volley came down from above, spearing two of them, and the Strike Rouge shot by, angling up towards the first _Izumo_ as it poured CIWS fire towards her.

"Luna!" Mwu shouted, swarming his remote turrets around her and projecting a shield, sending the beam blasts of another Murasame team flying. "Don't be so reckless!"

A wave of missiles came streaking through the battlefield, as a Murasame team from the Orb Raiders shot by, forming up around the Strike Rouge. Mwu took off over the Murasames' heads, opening fire on the _Izumo_ with his remote turrets and picking off another team of enemy Murasames as they tried to defend the ship.

"I can fight them too!" Luna cried. "Even me!" The Strike Rouge plowed through a wave of CIWS fire behind its shield, spearing the dorsal Gottfried cannon with a beam rifle shot. Mwu smirked inside the Akatsuki, covering her with a wave of turret shots.

"They shouldn't have attacked us!" he laughed. "Luna, get over them and take out the bridge! I'll hit the engines!"

The Akatsuki and Strike Rouge split up, spiraling through a wave of beam rifle fire and charging down towards the ship's hull. Luna pulled up over the smoldering remains of the dorsal Gottfried, firing at the bridge and spearing a Murasame in front of it with a beam rifle blast. Another dove in from the side, beam saber raised— Luna knocked it aside with a blow from her shield, taking it down with her rifle, and burst through the flames, roaring up towards the bridge tower and shredding it with a point blank CIWS burst. She jetted backwards as a Murasame came down from above with another saber slash, picking it off with a rifle shot to the chest.

Mwu clenched his teeth as he plowed effortlessly through a wave of beam rifle fire, smashing a trio of Murasames with a return volley from his turrets. The remote turrets burst away from the Akatsuki, forming up around the _Izumo_'s engines and spearing them on a relentless volley of beam shots.

Mwu watched with satisfaction, pulling his turrets away, as the _Izumo_'s engine block exploded and the rest of the ship vanished in a plume of flame.

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Metal shrieked and sparks flew as Andy shot by in the Mustang over the hull of a dying _Izumo_-class, plunging both his anti-ship swords into the hull and cutting his way through the bridge. The ship staggered under the force of a series of explosions— with a shout, Yzak landed on the smoldering deck and pumped a series of beam cannon rounds into the ship's core, lunging away as the ship died in a thunderous burst of fire.

"And here I thought they'd be _tough!_" Dearka laughed, as a pair of Murasames charged towards him. With a flash, he drew both of the Judicator's beam sabers, slicing the two charging opponents in half at the waist— a moment later he fired a flurry of missiles up towards the next _Izumo_, smashing dozens of craters and scars into the ship's hull.

"We don't have time for this shit!" Yzak snarled, spiraling through the desperate beam volleys of a squadron of Murasames and returning fire, picking off one with his beam rifle. "Someone find the flagship and we can end this!"

Andy somersaulted up over the hull of the _Izumo_, driving both his swords into the bridge and spearing the engine block on a Scylla shot. A Murasame lunged up behind him, beam saber raised— Andy smirked and crushed its cockpit with a blinding strike from both of his rocket anchors. "At the rate we're going, it won't last long anyway!"

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As another Murasame exploded, Shinn dove down towards the smoldering hull of a battleship, sword drawn.

"These guys are nothing," he growled, somersaulting over another Murasame and slicing it cleanly in two with his sword. The Gaia shot by underneath him, beam saber drawn and cleaving through a charging Murasame before it could react. The _Izumo_'s Gottfried angled to fire— Shinn pierced it with a long beam cannon shot and dropped down to slam his sword into the ship's hull, striking missile stores and blowing the vessel in two. Stella lunged up over the bridge, driving her beam saber down through it, and Shinn finished the ship off with a final beam cannon blast.

"We've taken out a third of them already," Shinn muttered. A Murasame raced towards him, beam saber raised— Shinn scowled and ripped its arm off with a palm cannon blow, kicking it aside and letting the Gaia finish it off with a beam rifle shot through the cockpit.

Stella glanced over at the red and black _Izumo_, as it fired a storm of missiles after one mobile suit.

"Is that Athrun?!" Shinn exclaimed, pulling back behind his beam shields and returning fire.

"We should help him!" Stella insisted, ducking under a saber-wielding Murasame and spearing it with a beam rifle shot.

"He can take care of himself," Shinn grunted, lunging around another missile volley and leaving a cloud of afterimages in his wake. "Let's go after that one!"

The Murasames formed up in front of the second _Izumo_, opening fire. Shinn scowled and drove his way through their shots with his beam shields, snapping his anti-ship sword out of its rack and cutting two Murasames in half in one horizontal blow. The Murasames turned their rifles on him, but a moment later, two more went down in flames as the Gaia swept into their ranks, beam rifle blazing.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Why are we failing?!" Jona shrieked, as the _Amaterasu_ quaked. "How can they be so powerful?!"

"We've lost contact with the _Murasaki!_" a deckhand cried, as outside, the ship in question snapped in two like a twig under the force of a thunderous explosion, and three mobile suits darted away from it.

"_Enemy approaching!_" another man screamed. Jona stared up in disbelief up ahead, as the Infinite Justice tore through two Murasames with its twin beam saber and spiraled down towards the _Amaterasu_'s hull.

Inside the Infinite Justice, Athrun looked up and scowled, magnifying the image of the bridge. "Jona," he growled. "You…the man who burned Orb down again!"

The Infinite Justice somersaulted over the charging Murasames, drawing its beam rifle and destroying the _Amaterasu_'s dorsal Gottfried. Jona's eyes widened in horror.

"_Shoot him down!_" he screamed, pointing at the charging Gundam. Athrun's eyes flashed angrily as he activated his subflight lifter, the beam sabers coming to life with a blaze, and sent it streaking forward towards the bridge—

The screens flickered to life, and the world at once saw a determined face.

"Citizens of the Earth Sphere," the voice said, "human beings of all walks of life, of all nations and creeds and religions, of all genetic backgrounds, I offer you greetings. I am the Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council, Gilbert Dullindal."

In the control room at the Daedalus Crater base, Lord Djibril scowled. "What the hell are _you_ doing…?" he growled.

Gilbert paused for a moment. "I make this speech on all frequencies, to all who dwell in this realm of our home, the Earth_. _We stand at the brink of a terrible battle, during a terrible war. The forces of ZAFT and the Earth Alliance are marching towards each other, ready to do battle, ready to destroy, ready to die. Already this war has claimed thousands of lives, sparked by a tragedy that itself claimed thousands of lives."

On the _Megami_, Lacus watched carefully as Gilbert spoke.

"What is he doing?" Murrue murmured.

"He is playing his hand," Lacus explained. "Sai, please prepare to broadcast a live message on all frequencies."

"Wha— why?" Sai exclaimed. Lacus looked over at him, and he paused a moment, before smiling and nodding. "Right."

"It has been like this throughout history," Gilbert went on. "A terrible tragedy, leaving thousands dead, sparks an even worse war that leaves even more people dead. The greatest wars of the AD calendar were all repetitions of each other. Humanity had killed ten million of its own and destroyed its finest civilization by AD 1919, and yet by AD 1939, they had picked up their weapons and put them in the hands of a new generation, for a new generation's war. Thinkers and visionaries throughout history have tried to answer the question of why we never learn to sheath our swords— of why, after killing ten million of our own, we killed a million times more a generation later. Such an answer, I believe, can never be found. But there was one man who gave us a different way. That man was George Glenn."

On the _Deliverance_, Rau smiled as Valentine and Kira watched, Valentine emotionlessly, Kira incredulously.

"Is the Chairman trying to…sell the Destiny Plan?" Kira asked, glancing in shock at Rau.

"Fifty-nine years ago, George Glenn set out for Jupiter," Gilbert continued. "He left us with the genetic modification techniques used to create him, and eventually, the Coordinator people. The world promptly descended into chaos, and over half a century of strife has followed, culminating in the Valentine War of three years ago and the war we are embroiled in now."

On the _Amaterasu_, Jona glanced at the ship's captain.

"Get us out of here."

"Through all this fighting, we have lost sight of what George Glenn told us, and what he gave us. He told us that he was made, and he had released the technique used to make him so that more of his kind could be made, in order to bridge a gap. He told us that humanity was evolving to meet the needs of its new environment in space, and to make the transition from the way we were to the way we would be in the future, we needed a genetic stopgap. George Glenn gave no name to the evolved being for which Coordinators were made to help us become. I call them Newtypes."

On the _Minerva_, Talia scowled at Gilbert's face as the rest of the bridge crew watched in shock.

"What is he saying?!" Arthur exclaimed. "That Newtypes are _real?!_"

"Damn you, Gilbert," Talia growled. "You were planning this all along."

"Newtypes, as Glenn predicted and as I have witnessed, bear extraordinary powers," Gilbert said. "Their gifts are many, but their greatest is the power of understanding. Their minds can connect— they can understand each other, and others, and thus transcend the conflicts that come from a lack of understanding. Newtypes can transcend violence and bloodshed; they can transcend war. We cannot bring back those already dead, but we owe it to ourselves, and to our children, and to the children yet unborn, to strive towards this ideal. We owe it to the universe to become what George Glenn wanted us to become. We owe it to the universe to become Newtypes."

On the _Girty Lue_, Lee eyed the screen carefully and glanced at Neo.

"What the hell is he saying?" Lee asked angrily.

Neo smirked. "Don't worry, Lee," he answered chidingly. "Just watch."

"Our evolution into Newtypes is, of course, no small feat," said Gilbert. "But there is a way— Newtypes are the result of a life in space, not on Earth." His eyes flashed. "People of the Earth, I am not the first man to urge this of you. But I intend to be the last. Many men in the past, great men, men that you cannot remember, have striven towards this ideal, and tried to convince you to join us, your brothers, your people, in outer space, where we can evolve and become a species beyond war and hatred. But to do that, we must break our bonds to the Earth, move off its surface, live in the cold of space, to become what we are destined to become. We must call to an end this pointless war and strife, and agree to walk forward together towards our destiny as a people of Newtypes."

"I've got the signal!" Sai shouted on the bridge of the _Megami_.

"Wait, please," Lacus said sternly, watching Gilbert closely.

"There can be no evolution if we remain divided and tied to the Earth," Gilbert's voice boomed. "We all, regardless of politics, regardless of race, regardless of genetics, wish to see the end of conflict. We all wish to see the end of the days where we must send our children to die, only to bring a false peace that forces us to send more children to die a few years later. We all wish to move forward, unburdened by our warlike ways. I come before you now with a plan to do that. We must move off the Earth; we must let her rest in peace, and make our abode in outer space, to become all that we are meant to be. People of the Earth— I hereby offer to you a chance to become far superior to any mere Coordinator! I offer you my plan for the evacuation of Earth— the Destiny Plan!"

The screens went blank— the face disappeared— a moment later, the face reappeared, but not the same as Gilbert's. The world watched in surprise as the face changed.

"People of the Earth Sphere," a girl's voice announced, "lend me your ears."

The screens flickered to life.

"I am Lacus Clyne."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	48. Phase 48: Light of Justice

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

Note, 8/27/08: I really hate to do this, but there is something screwed up with Phase 47. As I had originally written it, Jona was not supposed to die; Dullindal's speech was supposed to cut in and interrupt the battle, and Jona would slip away like a little weasel. However, I've had all sorts of computer problems for the past few months and the version of Phase 47 that reflected those changes evidently did not make it onto this site. That was what was originally intended, and when I can finally prevail in my Herculean struggle with my Compaq, I'll replace the content of that chapter to reflect what I intended.

Again, I apologize. Even in the future, nothing works!

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Phase 48 - Light of Justice

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****

January 16th, CE 74 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, en route to the Moon

"You have just heard the Chairman of the PLANTs tell you that you can build a peaceful world, and become a people of transcendent Newtypes, if you follow him and evacuate the Earth as he asks," Lacus said, calm and clear, as the world listened in shock. "Citizens of the Earth, please do not heed the words of this false prophet. He seeks to destroy you."

The screens replaced Lacus's face with the dark and terrible image of Solomon's Sword.

"Chairman Dullindal's intentions may appear peaceful," Lacus continued, as the screens displayed the Orb Raiders' footage of Solomon's Sword from their attack, "but no man with peaceful intent bears a weapon such as this. No man with peaceful intent marches to Daedalus Crater to do battle with the Earth Alliance, even as he espouses peace. No man with peaceful intent escalates the war he claims he seeks to end."

At Daedalus Crater, Lord Djibril's eyes flashed furiously.

"Charge the Requiem!" he roared. "We won't let that damned Dullindal get away with this!"

"The true path to peace," Lacus urged, "lies not in moving people to space or forcibly evolving people. We must all learn not to impose our wills on others— we must learn that our weapons must be lowered. We cannot allow the world to spiral into its destruction. The leaders of the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, please, lower your weapons before it is too late; before you destroy everything that all of us are fighting for."

The screens went dark. On the _Deliverance_, Rau smiled.

"Even to the end," he chuckled, "you are still useful to me, Lacus Clyne."

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****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Atlantic Federation Daedalus Crater base, the Moon

"Man," Sting sighed, as he made the final adjustments to his Chaos Gundam, "what the hell was _that_ all about?"

"It's all politics," Auel sighed, arms crossed as he leaned against the boarding gantry. "I don't give a shit about it." He shrugged. "Wonder what'll happen next."

"That girl just fucked ZAFT over," Sting grunted, as he closed up a cockpit panel and crawled back out. "ZAFT is probably going to attack soon. They were coming here to fight anyway, but now they've got no other choice, since that girl shot the Chairman's speech down."

Auel smirked. "And that's when we…you know?"

Sting nodded grimly. "We need to find the captain," he said. "I don't want to leave him behind."

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****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, en route to the Moon

Athrun stared blankly at the intimidating shape of Solomon's Sword emblazoned on the screen, floating in the crew lounge. It was all happening again— just like GENESIS three years ago, now the war was coming to its bloody climax, and once again, he was in the middle of it, following Lacus's lead, trying to gun down a ZAFT superweapon before it destroyed the world.

At his side, Lunamaria glanced at him awkwardly. "We're just going to destroy that thing?" she asked.

Athrun nodded dourly. "That's what Lacus said," he murmured. "But we'll have to get to it."

Luna looked back at the superweapon. "And they'll be sure to be defending it heavily," she added.

"Plus we'll have to deal with the Alliance," Athrun pointed out. He shook his head. "This will be a difficult battle."

Luna glanced aside, pausing awkwardly. "When this is over, though," she began, "what…will we do?"

Athrun closed his eyes. "I don't know. Orb is part of the Atlantic Federation now, and there's not much left in the Earth Sphere not controlled by the Earth Alliance." He shook his head again. "We'll find something. Maybe we'll go to the Junk Guild station on Mars."

There was a pause— Luna looked back at Athrun. "I'll go with you," she said. Athrun blinked at her. "So you're not alone," she added. "Nobody should be alone."

Athrun looked at her for a moment, before he smiled sadly. "Then I'll protect you," he said, "so neither of us have to be alone."

——————————————————————————————————————————

The hangar was filled only with the clangs of work and the shouts of irate mechanics for a moment, as Yzak stood by, leaning against the railing of the gantry, standing silently next to Dearka.

"Don't die out there," Yzak said suddenly. Dearka smirked back.

"Do I ever?" he asked. "But don't you go dying either. We're friends, right?"

Yzak paused awkwardly. "Right."

Dearka looked back at the hangar, still smirking. "After the war, we're gonna party like there's no tomorrow, I swear," he said. "We're going to survive this thing. We've made it this far, anyway."

"I don't want to fail again," Yzak grunted. Dearka glanced at him, arching an eyebrow. "We've been failing a lot lately. We couldn't topple the Seirans, we couldn't save Cagalli, we couldn't destroy that Solomon's Sword…I don't want to fail in destroying it now."

"The rest of the Earth Alliance will undoubtedly be gunning for it too," Dearka pointed out. "I don't care who destroys it, as long as someone destroys it."

Yzak and Dearka were silent for a moment.

"I mean it," Yzak added quietly, "don't die out there."

——————————————————————————————————————————

The screens came to life again— Lacus looked up in surprise on the bridge, as the face of a white-haired man, scowling, appeared against the backdrop of a military base's control room.

"That's Lord Djibril…" Murrue murmured. "What is he doing?"

Lord Djibril allowed a thin smile to pass his lips. "People of the Earth Sphere," he said, his voice booming, "not long ago you witnessed the Chairman of the PLANTs, Gilbert Dullindal, standing up before the world to trumpet the praises of his plan to move humans off the Earth! And then, Lacus Clyne jumped into his path to show us all the pictures of Dullindal's latest weapon, a weapon that can have only one purpose, after he just spoke of 'evacuating' the Earth!"

Shinn burst onto the bridge, eyes wide in disbelief as he saw Djibril on the screen, hands behind his back, regal and ominous.

"What is this…?" Lacus murmured.

Shinn stared in horror at Djibril. "He's…he's going to…"

"The transgressions of the Coordinators are far more numerous and grievous, from individuals to the natural order itself, than this one act," Djibril continued. "But this act is the final straw! After conspiring to defy nature and fate, after waging war, after killing untold millions of Naturals all while calling us the aggressor, now the Coordinators seek to truly and completely destroy the Earth! We will not let this crime go unpunished! Finally, at last, having escaped your destiny three times already, you shall see the light of justice!"

"No!" Shinn cried, as Djibril held aloft a trigger in striped yellow and black.

"What is _that?!_" Murrue exclaimed.

"_For Chairman Dullindal of the PLANTs!_" Djibril cried. "_For the Coordinators! And for a BLUE AND CLEAN WORLD!_"

"_DON'T!_" Shinn screamed.

With a demonic cackle, Djibril pulled the trigger.

From the Moon, the world watched as a shimmering golden beam lanced out from the Daedalus Crater base, passing through a colony cylinder in orbit and arcing around the Moon. It aligned itself through three more colony cylinders— the camera panned over the PLANTs, floating idyllically in space. The beam went sawing through them, tearing them down through the center, blasting them apart, cracking open their hulls like eggs. As the shattered pieces slammed into each other, a cloud of dust and debris rose up throughout the airspace, and the hourglasses collapsed.

Shinn's eyes went wide in horror. He clutched his head in agony, as millions of presences vanished; as a black hole opened up in the world, and the people of the PLANTs disappeared.

He screamed, and everything went black.

Hunched in her chair, Lacus winced as she tried to quell the feeling of a hole being torn in her mind. She looked up through teary eyes at the price of her failure— as the PLANTs vanished in fire and smoke.

"…L-Lacus…" Murrue managed to choke out, staring with bulging eyes at the burning PLANTs.

Lacus cringed, pressing her fingers to her temples painfully. "Take Shinn to the infirmary," she whispered.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, en route to the Moon

Kira's eye widened in disbelief as he watched the beam slice through the PLANTs— a feeling went ripping up through him from deep within him, a feeling of a painful, numbing _lack_ of something. He realized in horror that it was the simple lack of human life— as human life disappeared in that pulsing golden beam as it cut down PLANT after PLANT.

Rau glanced at Kira. "Now you understand," he said.

"These are…Newtype powers?" Kira murmured.

Rau nodded grimly.

"Davis," he said, glancing at the captain, as he slowly wrenched him gaze from the spectacle before him. "Await orders from Messiah. The war has changed again."

As he left the bridge, he couldn't help but smile.

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****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Daedalus Crater base, the Moon

As the PLANTs collapsed, Sting and Auel stared in disbelief at the main screen of the _Girty Lue_'s crew lounge, along with the shocked crew that until a moment ago had been trying to enjoy what time they had left before the battle.

"Sting…" Auel murmured, glancing painfully at Sting, standing next to him. "We're gonna…we're gonna destroy that thing, right?"

"They're all…dying…" Sting breathed. "Is that…the Requiem's power…?"

"We can't let him fire this thing again, Sting,"' hissed Auel. "It's not right."

Sting's eyes darkened as he watched the PLANTs burn. "No," he agreed. "It's not."

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****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, en route to the Moon

No soldier, Talia reflected, was supposed to shed tears on the bridge. However, as she glanced up at her crew, silent, shell-shocked, and tear-stained, their eyes fixed on the smoldering remains of their mutual home, she could not find the heart to excuse them.

The PLANTs were collapsing— whatever PLANTs had not been destroyed by the initial beam were being crushed by the debris of their neighbors. It was too late to turn back and rush to their aid. The Earth Alliance fleet marshaled at Daedalus Crater would tear them apart if they did. Their only option was to continue forward, to take revenge.

"C-Captain…" Arthur began haltingly. "What is this…?"

Talia looked darkly towards Messiah— Gilbert's machinations had brought them all to this point, with a battle to fight and no reason to fight it.

"Stand by for orders from Messiah," Talia said, her voice quavering. "We have nothing left now but revenge."

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****

Atlantic Federation Daedalus Crater base, the Moon

Lord Djibril's laughter filled the control room as the casualty figures came in. 113 PLANTs had been confirmed destroyed, either by the Requiem's beam or the destruction of their neighbors. Millions of Coordinators were already presumed dead. ZAFT had been powerless to stop it— they had watched the light of justice melt their blasphemous domain away.

"Six PLANTs remain at L5, sir," one of the soldiers in the control room added nervously, "and Armory 1 at L4 still remains unaccounted for as well."

"It means nothing!" Djibril cackled. "Recharge the Requiem and we will finish off what PLANTs are left! Then we will turn our fleet upon Armory 1, and these damned hourglasses will be no more!"

Djibril swept out of the control room, still laughing victoriously. Left behind, forgotten in the shadows, Joseph Copland stepped forward, toward the base commander, trembling with rage.

"Lieutenant," he said, motioning for the nervous deckhand. "Get me the captain of the new flagship, the _Amaryllis_." He paused, glowering in the direction Djibril had gone. "And make sure that _he_ is not informed."

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****

ZAFT mobile space fortress Messiah, en route to the Moon

Gilbert Dullindal took the podium, eyes flashing. His gamble had failed most disastrously, and he had paid for that with his nation and his people. However, the ZAFT fleet was unharmed by that blazing golden sword that had cut down the PLANTs— and so Lord Djibril could still be made to tremble before the might of an army with nothing to return home to.

"Soldiers of ZAFT," he said, his voice a furious growl, "we have lost much today." His fingers curled around the edges of the podium. "Lord Djibril's weapon has torn from us our nation. But we will not be stopped here. No, today we sail no longer to end this war, but to avenge our people."

He scanned over the faces of the soldiers, thousands of them assembled in a cavernous hangar, thousands more listening intently on their ships and in their mobile suits. The faces were haggard, dark, and angry, hatred smoldering in the fleet. They had nothing left to lose— they would drag as many Naturals to hell with them as they could.

"Our plan of attack is simple," Gilbert continued, the air behind him flickering as a sprawling holographic map of the Daedalus Crater base activated. "Our fleet will engage and occupy the Earth Alliance's fleet. We face crushing numbers— but like the Battle of Salamis, our smaller but more advanced fleet will overpower theirs. We will clear a path with the Neutron Stampeder, destroying their nuclear reactors and weapons, and then turn Messiah's ultimate weapon, NEO-GENESIS, on the base itself. And when the base has been destroyed, we shall finish off the Alliance fleet, and take our war directly to the Earth again."

He thrust his fist into the air. One way or another, he would have revenge.

"We have lost our people, our nation, and our being!" he cried. "So let us show Lord Djibril the ferocity of an army with nothing left to lose!"

The soldiers let out a furious cry, thrusting their own fists into the air. Gilbert's face darkened.

_After all,_ he reminded himself, _I still have Solomon's Sword._

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****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, en route to the Moon

The world slowly returned as Shinn Asuka cracked an eye open, fighting the haze in his mind to look around. He slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes, finding himself in the _Megami_'s infirmary.

"Shinn!" he heard a voice exclaim— Stella threw her arms around Shinn's shoulders urgently. "Is Shinn okay?"

Shinn blinked— the void was still there, the void that had swallowed up the PLANTs. He rubbed his eyes again.

"I'll be okay," he murmured.

He looked up at the feeling of another presence, finding Athrun on the other side of his bed. He looked down grimly at Shinn.

"What happened?" he asked at last. Shinn squeezed his eyes shut.

"Too many people…all at once…" he grunted, pausing to glance meaningfully at Stella. Athrun nodded hesitantly.

"I…felt it," he said, closing his own eyes. Shinn glanced up at him, surprised. "I felt them…disappear."

Shinn studied him for a moment. He felt Athrun's presence, but there was a faint, underlying pressure from him now— he wondered if the simultaneous deaths of so many people had brought out some kind of latent Newtype powers in Athrun.

"This feeling," Athrun continued uneasily, "is this…the power that you and Lacus have?"

Shinn paused for a moment, running the idea through his mind. "You're a Newtype," he said at last. Athrun seemed surprised, but kept it outwardly hidden— not that it stopped Shinn from sensing it anyway.

"That feeling, when the PLANTs were hit," Athrun said, "…will it stop me during a fight?"

Shinn squeezed his eyes shut, thinking back to his battles long ago, fighting in the Impulse to protect the _Minerva_, fighting against his own mind betraying him as much as he was fighting against the Alliance. "It'll only stop you if you let it," he answered. "If you really believe in what you're fighting for, you won't let it get in your way."

Athrun nodded dourly, and said nothing more. Shinn rubbed his eyes again.

_So many people died…_

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****

ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, en route to the Moon

Shiho Hahnenfuss stared blankly at the empty space where the PLANTs had once been. It was her home, smoldering and spewing smoke; her home, her friends, her family, her world, now the same casualties of this war as Ruumari, as Heine, as Lunamaria. Now they were charging forward to throw away everything they had left, when everyone knew that it would not bring the PLANTs or their people back.

She glanced away, towards the others in the crew lounge. They were all muted, some by shock, some by fury. Aoma drifted up next to her, staring lifelessly at the empty space.

"I guess I don't have to tell Ruumari's parents that I couldn't protect him," she said quietly. "I couldn't protect them either."

Shiho looked sharply at Aoma. "Don't say that," she snapped. "None of us could have stopped this."

Aoma paused for a moment, regarding Shiho in surprise, before she looked away, crestfallen. "I know, ma'am," she said awkwardly. "But…I just feel so powerless."

Shiho returned her attention to the empty space. Everyone had felt powerless— everyone had _been_ powerless— but that was no reason to mope about it.

"We have a duty to all those who died, to fight on in their memory, so that their deaths won't be in vain," Shiho said resolutely. "And we have a duty to survive, so that we can rebuild." She looked over at Aoma. "When this is all over, I want you to leave ZAFT. Or escape capture, if that's how this battle will end. Whatever it takes, I want you to survive, to live your life the way you want to. That is our duty."

"Commander— " Aoma started. Shiho took her by the shoulder, looking into her astonished red eyes.

"I grew up fighting in the Valentine War," she continued, "and I became a soldier at heart. I am proud of my service to my country, but I'm still just a bitter old war veteran. You're not. So promise me that you'll survive out there, and that you'll leave this all behind you. There's more to life than fighting and dying."

Aoma smiled and saluted. "Understood, commander," she said. "But if I may, the same goes for you."

Shiho smiled back. "No giant cannon can take that away from us."

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****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, Daedalus Crater base, the Moon

Neo Roanoke smiled up at the imposing form of his new GAT-X723 Apocalypse Gundam. Built on the general frame of the Windam, with the intimidating face of a Gundam, and with two enormous binders stretching off the machine's back, it was equipped with a positron reflector that could stop weapons of almost all kinds. He gleefully inspected the armaments— four CIWS, two beam sabers, two beam shields, a long beam rifle, and a total of seven beam cannons on the binders, head, hips, and forearms. It was unstoppable.

"Use this to penetrate the ZAFT lines and wreak havoc in their fleet," Djibril instructed venomously. "The ZAFT fleet was observed with one of those Neutron Stampeder things they used to stop our nuclear warheads at the beginning of the war. Destroy it before it can irradiate again."

"And after that," Neo continued, still smiling, "I presume you want me to aim for that _other_ weapon."

Djibril scowled. "Of course," he said. "The Coordinators will not be allowed any measure of victory."

Neo chuckled as Djibril turned and drifted down the gantry.

_First we destroy their homeland,_ he told himself, _and then we destroy them…_

——————————————————————————————————————————

"It was wrong," Lee agreed, watching Sting and Auel dourly as they stood by him on the _Girty Lue_'s observation deck. "There was no reason to target all those civilians. Djibril has committed the same crime that the Coordinators who dropped Junius 7 committed."

Sting glanced at Auel. "We're going to destroy the Requiem," he said. "We want you to come with us."

Lee was silent for a moment. "I can't do that," he answered.

"Why not?!" Auel demanded. "They'll just kill you if you stay here!"

"We can get you out of here," Sting added. "Just get into an escape launch or something."

"Then that is one less vehicle for the crew," Lee countered. "I will not leave the crew to die. Either the captain is the last to evacuate, or he does not evacuate at all."

"But captain— " Sting protested.

"I am a bitter old man," Lee interrupted, "sabotaging my country's war effort because that effort is led by evil men with evil intentions. Their machinations have cost me everything I would have had to fight for and return to. With no family to protect and support, my life is meaningless. I have my own battle to fight." He looked back at Sting and Auel. "I am glad to have met you both, and I am proud to know that I helped you break your mental conditioning. Now my last request is that you leave the Alliance behind when your revenge is complete, and live the lives the Alliance tried to steal from you. The Alliance has tried to turn you into weapons, but they could never crush your humanity. That is why I saved you— and that is why I want you to survive, and live life as you see fit."

Auel was silent a moment, as Sting tried to come up with an answer. "You know," Auel said, looking up sullenly at Lee, "I never had a father at Lodonia."

Lee put a hand on Auel's shoulder. "I tried to be your father," he said, "and all I could do was help you free yourselves from the Alliance. But all men must part with their fathers at some point. As long as I can help you two become men, I will have done my job."

Sting squeezed his eyes shut. "We'll never forget what you did for us," he said. "We'll be fighting for you."

"And I," Lee said, smiling thinly at them both, "will be fighting for you."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, en route to the Moon

The magazine snapped into place on the underside of the bazooka, and with a sigh, Lunamaria took a step back on the hangar gantry, examining the four-clip bazooka for anything more that needed to be done.

"They loaded the magazines with high output shells," Athrun explained at her side. "You've got twenty-nine shells total, with one in the chamber and seven each in the clips."

"I guess it's better than the Cattus," Luna said with a shrug. "Thanks. This'll come in handy."

Athrun lowered the crane carrying the bazooka, setting it in the weapons rack behind the inert Strike Rouge. "We have to do everything we can to make sure we all come home," he said. "I don't want you to die."

Luna smiled. "I'm a ZAFT Red," she replied. "You know what we can do. I wasn't third in my class for nothing."

"That didn't save Nicol," Athrun said bitterly. "Be careful out there. I don't want to lose you the way I lost Cagalli." Luna blinked in surprise. "You're my friend, Luna. I will not let you die."

Silent for a moment, Luna smiled again. "You worry about yourself out there," she answered. "I'll be alright, with you protecting me."

Athrun nodded grimly.

——————————————————————————————————————————

As Shinn drifted across the observation deck, he looked curtly at Lacus, staring blankly at the empty space where the PLANTs once were.

"I miscalculated," she said plainly, as Shinn drifted by. He came to a stop next to her. "I apologize for it, but no apology can set it right."

Shinn said nothing for a moment. "We still have to destroy Solomon's Sword," he said. Lacus looked over at him sadly. "So that the Chairman can't do what Djibril did." Another pause. "So I guess we haven't _totally_ failed."

Silence reigned again.

"I am sorry that my miscalculation caused you such pain, Shinn," Lacus said quietly. "To feel one death, for us, is pain enough, but to feel millions…"

"Quit acting like you're the one who shot down the PLANTs," Shinn grumbled. "Djibril did it, and he probably would've done it whether or not you'd exposed the Chairman's ruse."

Lacus was silent for a moment, before nodding in dour agreement. "I suppose you're right," she admitted. "But…to see the PLANTs destroyed like that…" She shook her head. "We are in a terrible position now."

Shinn crossed his arms. "Yeah," he agreed. "ZAFT has every right to go gunning for revenge now, and we're gonna be there telling them all to stop."

"Is that not the correct course?" Lacus asked. "We have already seen one side do something terrible— we cannot let the other side reciprocate."

"No," Shinn agreed, "but can we really go and say that ZAFT shouldn't fire that thing when Djibril just destroyed the PLANTs?"

Lacus said nothing. Shinn let out a sigh.

"This will be our final battle," Lacus said quietly. "I am sure of it."

Shinn glanced at her— she was focused on the remains of the PLANTs. He sighed again and headed out the door.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT _Eternal_-class cruiser _Deliverance_, en route to the Moon

The fleet was nearing the Moon— already, with his rudimentary Newtype senses, Kira could detect the pulsing mass of millions of lives surrounding the Daedalus Crater base. He paused as he worked on the final adjustments to the Strike Freedom Gundam, feeling a familiar, comforting presence nearing him. Valentine appeared at the edge of the cockpit hatch.

"How are you adjusting to your new powers?" she asked, leaning into the cockpit.

Kira sat back. "I could sense you coming," he said. "But will I be able to fight?"

Valentine smiled. "Don't worry about anything else but fighting," she said. "This is the last struggle we have to overcome. As long as you fight and protect us and the Sword, victory will be ours."

Kira looked back down at the Strike Freedom's panels. "Where will you be during the battle?" he asked.

"I'll be protecting the Sword, the same as you," she said, still smiling. "We'll fight together, Kira."

"Then I will protect you," promised Kira, reaching up with his right hand. He paused, remembering the skeletal fingers, but Valentine took it anyway, smiling gently at him.

"I knew you would," she said.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, en route to the Moon

"Will Shinn be okay…?

Sitting at the foot of the slumbering Gaia Gundam, Shinn smiled comfortingly at Stella.

"I'll be fine," Shinn assured her. "I won't pass out again like I did earlier today."

"But Shinn didn't feel good…" Stella protested. "…Shinn might get hurt…"

"I won't," he said. "I can't protect you if I get hurt."

Stella paused for a moment, before putting her head tiredly on Shinn's shoulder. "Stella doesn't want Shinn to get hurt…" she said. "Being hurt is no fun."

Shinn put his arm around her, rubbing her shoulder. "I know," he agreed. "But this is the battle where it all counts. We have to destroy that giant ZAFT weapon, in order to end the war."

Stella was silent for a moment, before pulling away from Shinn far enough to look earnestly into his eyes. "When the war is over," she began haltingly, "will Shinn take Stella to the sea…?"

Shinn smiled— even after everything they had been through, she still wanted to see the ocean.

"Of course," he answered.

Stella smiled and kissed him.

"Stella will protect Shinn," she said as she pulled away, "so Shinn can see the sea too."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 17th, CE 74 - Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_, the Moon

The ZAFT fleet hung menacingly over Daedalus Crater, with the alien structure of Messiah at its center, charging forward. Behind the fleet loomed the imposing shape of Solomon's Sword. The massive Earth Alliance fleet rose from the base, as thousands of mobile suits charged at each other.

In the _Megami_'s hangar, sitting in the cockpit of the Destiny Gundam, Shinn Asuka looked up at the two converging fleets dubiously. Solomon's Sword was there; Rey was there; Kira was there.

"This is where it counts," Murrue's voice told them all, ringing through Shinn's ears. "All of you, be careful out there."

Shinn narrowed his eyes. One way or another, it would all end here.

"Shinn Asuka, Destiny…_going out!_"

The Destiny took off with a flash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	49. Phase 49: Solomon's Sword

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 49 - Solomon's Sword

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 17th, CE 74 - Atlantic Federation Daedalus Crater base, the Moon

The surface of the Moon shook as ten enormous feet slammed down into the dust and rock. As beams and missiles rained down from the ZAFT fleet, and a wall of firepower rose from the Alliance fleet to stop it, the mobile suits clashed. The ground shuddered again, and with a crash, five hangars opened, and from them emerged five towering, demonic Destroy Gundams.

On the bridge of the _Megami_, Murrue watched in disbelief as the five black behemoths slid forward, beams blazing from their massive backpacks and cutting down a wave of ZAFT mobile suits.

"_Five?!"_ she exclaimed. Lacus narrowed her eyes at the rampaging monsters.

"Djibril," she murmured, "this is absurd..."

"Lacus, we have to do something about those units," Murrue pointed out grimly, as the _Megami_ glided into battle. "Solomon's Sword may be more threatening to everyone, but those Destroys are more threatening to _us_."

"I agree," Lacus said, "but for now, we should wait and see if ZAFT can handle them. If they cannot, then we will have to take down those units ourselves."

She looked up towards the ZAFT fleet, as it inexorably pressed forward, and frowned. It was all going to be decided.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Yzak clenched his teeth as the Calypso swung down into battle. A menagerie of ZAFT mobile suits, of every make and model, was charging forward. He angled down through a hail of beam fire and machinegun rounds, plowing through the beams with his beam shield and glancing up at Solomon's Sword.

"I can't get to it like this," he growled. "Damn you! Get out of my way!"

The Calypso lined up its hyper impulse cannons and fired, blowing away a GuAIZ R and a Slash ZAKU Warrior before they could take cover. The mobile suits split up, showering the Calypso with firepower— Yzak ignored the machinegun rounds, focusing on the more dangerous beam rifle-wielding foes.

Behind the ZAFT squadron, Shiho's eyes widened in surprise as the Savior Gundam shot forward, beam rifle armed. "Yzak!" she exclaimed. "Dammit…all units, hold fire!"

The ZAFT units pressed their attack. A GINN swept in behind the Calypso, heavy sword raised high over its head. Yzak scowled, firing both of his rocket anchors backward, plunging them into the GINN's torso and hurling the sparking wreck down at an unsuspecting CGUE.

"Yzak!" Shiho shouted. "Stop this!" The Savior opened fire with its plasma cannons, blocking the Calypso's shot as it leveled off its beam rifle to shoot down a dodging GuAIZ R.

"Shiho…!" Yzak growled, wheeling around to open fire on the Savior. Shiho skirted aside and returned fire, diving up into the sky over the Calypso's head, as Yzak took cover behind his beam shield.

"The PLANTs have been destroyed, Yzak!" Shiho cried, sweeping in with a beam cannon blast. "What are you still fighting us for?! Your own people have been destroyed!"

Yzak fired off a beam rifle blast over the Savior's head, forcing it to duck, and followed up with a hyper impulse cannon volley that sent the Savior spiraling aside desperately. He took off, drawing his beam saber. "And now you're going to do the same thing!" he shouted. "Are you fighting the people who will destroy us all, or are you fighting the people who don't have anything to do with it?!"

The Savior snapped its own saber out of its right-hand shoulder armor, and the two Gundams met with a crash. Yzak glared over his shoulder as a Blaze ZAKU Warrior lined up for a killing beam rifle shot, and somersaulted over the Savior's head, hurling both his beam boomerangs and cutting the ZAKU in two.

"We're avenging our people!" Shiho cried, whirling around and sniping at the Calypso with her plasma cannons. "How can you be so cruel as to tell me that's not just?!"

"What right do you have to kill civilians the way Djibril did?!" Yzak screamed back, returning fire with his own beam cannons. The Savior backflipped into the air, as the Calypso's beam boomerangs came arcing back. Yzak caught them on the rebound, taking off after the retreating Savior. "Come back here! I'm not through with you yet!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Atlantic Federation battleship _Girty Lue_, the Moon

__

As the Chaos and Abyss Gundams came to life in the _Girty Lue_'s hangar, Sting cast a grim glance towards the Abyss. Auel nodded back, and as the two Gundams' Phase Shift came to life, Auel let out a scream, smashing the blade of his lance into the inert Windams' cockpits. The mechanics fled in shock as the Chaos pointed its beam rifle towards the ship's engines.

"Evacuate this ship!" Sting barked. "Evacuate it, or I shoot!"

On the bridge, the panicking bridge crew looked to Lee. He stared solemnly at the screen, and Sting's scowling face.

"Captain! The Extended are rebelling!" one of the crew cried.

"Should we contact the Colonel?!" another asked.

Lee shook his head. "The Colonel is on a special assignment," he said. "The Chaos and Abyss have put us in a difficult position. We cannot move if they are holding us hostage from within the ship."

"But captain, we don't— " another crewman began.

Lee cut him off with a glare, standing up. "Signal the crew to abandon ship."

"_Captain!_" the helmsman protested.

"_That is an order!_" Lee roared. "Get to the escape launches! I will remain here and try to talk the Extended down, and if I am successful, I will signal you to return! But if I fail, then it is only I who will die! Now go!"

He stared at the crew for a tense moment, before they finally acquiesced, filing out of the bridge. Lee watched them go dourly, taking a step forward as the door shut behind him. He looked up at Sting.

"Is this what you needed?" Sting asked. Lee took up his seat at the helm, reaching over to the weapons console to arm the _Girty Lue_'s weapons.

"Ensure that the crew clears the ship," he instructed. "Once they have cleared, inform me."

Sting nodded, and the screen went dark.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Far ahead, Shinn squinted at the feeling of pressure— warped pressure, pressure of Extended. He magnified the image— a wing of purple mobile armors, armed with what appeared to be gunbarrels, the mobile armor that Neo Roanoke had been piloting. The squadron of Exus mobile armors charged forward— Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief as he realized that they were all equipped with nuclear missiles.

Shinn glanced over in alarm at the Infinite Justice Gundam, charging towards the battlefield next to him. "Athrun," he said, "those mobile armors— "

There was a flash of exhaust from the Exus squadron, as their missiles went streaking off into the distance. Up ahead, the massive ZAFT carrier _Gondwana_ loomed with a vanguard of warships, hanging in space near the fortress Messiah. The missiles sliced through the battlefield, as CIWS rounds rose to chase them. There was a flash of light—

Shinn narrowed his eyes angrily as the _Gondwana_ disappeared in a flash of nuclear fire.

"Shinn!" Athrun exclaimed. "They're using nuclear weapons!"

"Those bastards are pulling out all the stops," Shinn snarled. The Exus squadron wheeled around— Shinn tensed as he realized they were heading toward him.

"And now they're coming towards us!" Athrun growled. "Shinn— "

The Exus units deployed their gunbarrels, sending them streaking forward. Shinn scowled.

"I'll handle this!" he shouted.

"Shinn— " Athrun began. Shinn took off, activating his beam wings with a flash. The gunbarrels swarmed around him, their beam sabers blazing to life— Shinn spiraled through a web of beam fire, sending a swarm of afterimages clouding around him. The blasts sliced through nothing, piercing other gunbarrels, as Shinn smacked one charging pod aside and crushed it with his palm cannon. An Exus dropped in to fire its beam cannons— Shinn ducked aside, letting its gunbarrels spear another mobile armor's hull and wipe it out— he fired up into the Exus's underside with his beam rifle, and even as the impaled Exus exploded, whirled around again to send another wave of afterimages around another Exus. The gunbarrels swarmed around like vultures it as Shinn pulled away, tearing the unfortunate Exus to pieces.

A trio of beam shots came down from above, tearing down three more gunbarrels— Shinn dove through the empty space, letting more gunbarrels shoot each other down, as the Infinite Justice dropped in with a saber slash, cutting a fourth Exus in half. The remaining four Exus units pulled back, focusing their fire on the Infinite Justice— Athrun drew back with a frustrated grunt, taking cover behind his beam shield.

Shinn dove back into the fray with a scream, deflecting a wave of beam shots aimed at the Infinite Justice with his beam shield, and stormed forward with a trail of afterimages. Twisting through their desperate shots, Shinn slammed his palm cannon down into the fifth Exus, ripping it apart. Another Exus tried to line up behind the Destiny— the Infinite Justice's Grapple Stinger slammed into its side, and Athrun yanked it back towards him, impaling it on his boomerang blade.

The final two Exus began to pull back, firing their beam cannons wildly. Shinn clenched his teeth, diving through their shots and swarming his afterimages around the seventh Exus. The eighth Exus's gunbarrels tore apart the seventh with a flash of beam saber blades— with a scream, Athrun barreled through the lone survivor's desperate fire and speared it on a shot from the Infinite Justice's beam rifle.

As the last Exus erupted into a cloud of fire, Shinn glanced over at Athrun.

"You're stronger than I thought," he remarked. Athrun allowed himself a thin smile.

"I'm no weakling," he insisted.

The two Gundams took off, angling towards Solomon's Sword.

——————————————————————————————————————————

His face twisted into a terrible scowl, Rey watched carefully as the Legend Gundam approached the _Deliverance_. The starboard METEOR unit was drifting nearby, open and ready, as Rey backed into the lock, swinging his backpack up to accommodate the METEOR.

"Rey," Rau's voice warned, "the METEOR will do you no good against a lone mobile suit. Use it against warships and mobile suit squadrons instead."

"Understood," Rey answered. The Legend shuddered as it connected with the METEOR, and Rey clenched his teeth, arming its weapons. He glanced over to the _Deliverance_'s port side, as the Strike Freedom backed into the ship's other METEOR unit.

He looked up at the Alliance fleet, taking off with a roar. A squadron of Dagger Ls formed up in front of a _Drake_, outfitted with some kind of enormous emitter on its hull. Rey opened fire with a blazing volley of beam cannons— the shots ripped through the Alliance mobile suits, but slammed harmlessly against the positron reflector shield.

Rey scowled. "Merely against these things…" he snarled, igniting the beam swords and sliding past the shield and slashing the ship in half. "I have no time for you!"

The Legend lunged up over another ship, cleaving in two with a downward hack. Another battalion of mobile suits charged at him, spewing beam blasts— Rey's eyes flashed, as he swung back, opening up with a barrage of missiles and smashing the Alliance mobile suits out of the sky.

"Shinn," he growled, scanning the battlefield for the Destiny's distinctive beam wings, "I'm coming for you…"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"The crew is away!" Sting shouted. "Auel, let's go!"

The Chaos and Abyss went rocketing out of the _Girty Lue_'s hangar, forming up in front of the ship. On the bridge, Lee smiled— their time to act had finally come.

"If you are going to destroy the Requiem," Lee said, "then I will cover you."

"But you're the only one on there!" Auel protested. "How can you operate the whole ship by yourself?"

"I'll manage," Lee assured him. "But we have to act quickly, before Djibril can fire it again."

The _Girty Lue_ swung around ponderously, arming its Gottfrieds and missile launchers as it wheeled around towards the Requiem. The other ships around them watched in confusion as the _Girty Lue_ turned, taking off towards their superweapon. The Chaos and Abyss rushed ahead, leveling off their weapons at the crater-shaped structure and opening fire.

The shots slammed against a positron reflector shield harmlessly— Sting and Auel cursed as they noticed the familiar flares of mobile suits engines down by the Requiem's rim.

"They have it shielded!" Sting growled, as the _Girty Lue_ ground forward behind them.

"I guessed as much," grunted Lee. The _Girty Lue_ fired a barrage from all six of its Gottfrieds, but the shots could not break through the positron shield. Lee scowled as he noted a squadron of mobile suits approaching from the Requiem. "They're sending mobile suits!"

"We'll take care of them!" Auel shouted. "Let's show these guys who they're fucking with!"

A volley of beam shots came streaming from the approaching mobile suits— Sting and Auel deflected the shots with their shields and charged back. Sting blinked in surprise as he noticed the approaching mobile suits— Windams, all equipped with Gunbarrel Striker packs.

"They've got gunbarrels!" he cried, as the gunbarrels came to life, rocketing away from the Windams and activating their railguns. "Auel!"

"They're still just kinetic weapons!" Auel yelled, returning fire with his beam cannons. The Windams dove apart, their gunbarrels darting around the Chaos. "Bastards! You can't stop me that easily!"

Sting growled, firing with his beam rifle at a Windam as it came streaking in, rifle blazing, surrounding the Chaos with railgun shells. "You're not the only one who can do that!" he shouted back— with a flash, the Chaos's own weapon pods lifted off, activating and returning fire with a beam rifle volley. He cut down two gunbarrels with a beam cannon volley of his own, deflecting the Windam's saber strike with his shield and kicking it in the chest. Another Windam swung in from behind him, gunbarrels blazing— Sting cut two of its gunbarrels down with his own weapon pods and whirled around, activating the beam claw on the Chaos's right foot and slashing the Windam's rifle in two. He somersaulted up over the Windams' heads, as a third one fired off a rifle shot that went sailing by under the Chaos's feet.

In front of the _Girty Lue_, Auel took cover behind the Abyss's shoulder shells, snarling. "Coming back for more, assholes?!" he screamed, opening fire with a beam cannon volley, tearing down three gunbarrels and forcing the attacking three Windams back behind their shields. Auel activated his beam lance with a flash, charging and twirling the lance over his head. The lead Windam drew its beam saber— the two weapons met in a shower of sparks. "Too slow, asshole!" Auel shouted with a grin— a moment later, he kicked off from the Windam's shield and fired his Callidus cannon. The Windam ducked aside, but two of its gunbarrels vanished in the blast. Another gunbarrel snaked around him for a shot at his back— Auel smirked and stabbed over his shoulder with his lance, spearing the gunbarrel and wiping it out on the beam tip.

Behind the dueling mobile suits, Lee scowled as he fired the _Girty Lue_'s Gottfrieds again. The shots slammed once more against the positron reflector. He looked up dourly at the Chaos and Abyss.

_And this,_ he thought, _is where we part ways._

——————————————————————————————————————————

"There's no reason for us to fight each other!" Shiho shouted, as the Savior swung around, beam saber armed, and brought it down with a crash on the Calypso's beam shield. "The Alliance is a bigger threat to all of us than anyone else!"

"But _they_ have nothing left to destroy!" Yzak shot back, pushing the Savior away and blasting back with its hyper impulse cannons. The Savior transformed and took off— the Calypso followed with a blast of exhaust. "ZAFT does! They'll destroy the world, and regardless of the Alliance's crimes, I won't let ZAFT commit the same one!"

The Savior slammed on the brakes, reverting to its mobile suit mode and drawing its saber with a flash, bringing it down on the Calypso's. The Calypso surged forward, slamming the Savior back with a devastating kick to the face.

"How can you fight like this, for an army that will kill everyone just like the Alliance?!" Yzak cried, charging forward and kicking the Savior in the chest. "How can you fight to commit the same crime they did?! _Is this what you really want!?"_

"Yzak!" Shiho shouted back, taking off as the Calypso came down with another saber slash. "I— "

"I'll fight you as long as you fight for ZAFT!" Yzak screamed. "_I'll fight you as long as it takes to make you understand!_"

The Savior and Calypso came together with a crash, beam sabers slammed against each other.

"How many more of my friends do I have to fight?!" Yzak shouted. "How many more of my people do I have to kill to make them understand?!" His eyes flashed as he pushed the Savior away. "Coordinators and Naturals are the same thing! They're both _humans!_ How many more of us have to die before we can finally see that?!"

"The Alliance has always been the aggressor— " Shiho protested.

"And the Coordinators have always done the same things they did!" Yzak snapped. "What do you _think_ I'm fighting for!? I'm fighting for a future where we can get along! I'm fighting for a future where people won't have to fight! And _that_ thing," the Calypso pointed angrily at Solomon's Sword, "_is not going to bring peace!_"

"Yzak…" Shiho began.

"I'm sick of this!" yelled Yzak, drawing his rifle and pointing it at the Savior. "Make up your mind, Shiho! _What kind of world do you want?!_"

Shiho stared in disbelief at the Calypso, its rifle pointed straight at her cockpit. Yzak glared at her.

The Calypso lurched forward as a pair of railgun shells slammed into its back. Shiho looked up in surprise— behind the staggering Calypso, a GuAIZ R dropped in, beam saber ignited. Yzak turned in shock as the mobile suit swept in for the kill—

A moment later, a beam shot speared it through its cockpit, wiping it out in a place. Yzak looked over at the attacker— the Savior lowered its beam rifle.

In the cockpit, Shiho closed her eyes.

"Is that your choice?" Yzak asked.

Shiho nodded. Yzak paused for a moment, and then glanced over at the _Megami_.

"Come on, then," he said. The Calypso turned towards the _Megami_. "We have a future to fight for."

Shiho looked up at last, tears in her eyes, and smiled sadly, taking off after the Calypso.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Neo laughed as the Apocalypse tore forward, through a wave of beam fire from a squadron of ZAKUs. The shots bounced harmlessly off his shimmering positron reflector field, and he activated his myriad of beam cannons, returning fire and tearing the ZAKUs apart.

"You're not the only ones with power!" Neo cackled, taking off again, towards the dim shape of ZAFT's Neutron Stampeder. A GOUF Ignited charged towards him, sword drawn— laughing, Neo drew a beam saber with his left hand, parrying the GOUF's first blow and skirting around the second. As the GOUF swung around, activating its heat rod, Neo cut the GOUF in two at the waist, and, still laughing, took off as it exploded.

Up ahead, the ZAFT mobile suits opened fire again, but their shots bounced harmlessly away from the Apocalypse.

"See just how powerless you are!" Neo laughed, plunging through their desperate shots, down towards the Neutron Stampeder. The ship opened fire with a handful of CIWS guns— Neo cackled gleefully as he plowed through the rain of bullets, activating all his weapons with a flash and pounding a volley of beam cannon shots through the Neutron Stampeder. The _Nazca_ it was attached to erupted in a cloud of fire, and the Neutron Stampeder vanished.

Neo smiled, admiring his handiwork as the _Nazca_ exploded. He glanced over his shoulder at a familiar presence, and magnified the image, finding the crimson Mustang Gundam and the golden Akatsuki charging towards him.

"He's your old Mobius Zero commander?" Andy asked dubiously, as the Mustang leveled off its beam rifle and opened fire. "Is he a Newtype too?"

"Something like that," Mwu answered, arming the Akatsuki's remote turrets. "Don't take him lightly."

Neo grinned as he swung into battle, firing a wave of beam cannon shots at the two charging mobile suits. "Ironic that you finally come to face me as the world ends!" he laughed. "You never understood before, Mwu, but maybe now you finally will!"

The Akatsuki's remote turrets flashed around the Apocalypse, opening fire— Mwu's eyes widened in disbelief as the volley of shots landed harmlessly against the Apocalypse's positron reflector.

"He can deflect beams?!" Mwu exclaimed.

The Mustang swept in over the Apocalypse, drawing its anti-ship swords. "He can't deflect everything!" The Mustang came down with a crash on the Apocalypse's beam shield— Neo grunted in frustration as the Mustang surged forward, pushing the Apocalypse back.

"And what do you think _you're_ doing?!" Neo snapped, somersaulting over the Mustang's head and drawing a beam saber with its left hand. The Akatsuki swept in, its own twin beam saber drawn, thrusting the blade into the Apocalypse's path and blocking its killing swing at the Mustang's exposed back.

"I don't care what your problem with the rest of us is!" Mwu shouted. "I know you, and I know you're planning something terrible, and I'll kill you before you can carry it out!"

The Mustang came down with both swords drawn, slamming the blades down on the positron shield. "Don't tell me we're going to sit here arguing philosophy!" Andy grunted. "If you have to shout your motivations at me, you must not really believe them yourself!"

"You think I'm that petty?!" Neo shot back, lunging up and showering the two mobile suits with beam shots. Mwu snapped his remote turrets around the Akatsuki, deflecting the beam shots with a translucent defensive screen and the Akatsuki's anti-beam armor. "We have the power that the Coordinators tried and failed to give themselves!" The Apocalypse opened fire again— Mwu deflected the brunt of the attack, while the Mustang leapt up over the Akatsuki's head, hurling both of its beam boomerangs at the Apocalypse. Neo scowled, shooting them both down with a beam cannon volley— the Mustang lunged up from out of the smoke, wielding both its anti-ship swords.

The Akatsuki lined up behind the Apocalypse for another attack, but its beams bounced uselessly off the Apocalypse's positron reflector. Neo smirked, ignoring the Akatsuki and surging forwards towards the Mustang. Andy scowled, charging back and deploying both of the Mustang's rocket anchors— laughing, Neo cut them both in two with his saber.

"Andy!" Mwu shouted, dropping in from behind with a saber slash. The Apocalypse darted aside, pummeling the Akatsuki with a beam cannon barrage and knocking it away. "Dammit…let me handle him!"

The Mustang drew a pair of beam knives, activating the blades and hurling them up at the Apocalypse. Neo grinned and smacked them aside with his beam shield, returning fire with a wave of beam cannon blasts.

"You can't even beat me!" he cried. "You don't _deserve_ that perfect set of genes!"

Mwu lunged towards Neo, beam saber drawn and pointed at the Apocalypse's cockpit— Neo swung back, pushing the Akatsuki's saber aside, but Mwu rocketed away before Neo could follow up with a beam cannon barrage. He glanced over his shoulder, a familiar sensation of danger springing into his mind— the Mustang lunged over his head, but before it could move again, Neo slashed off its left leg at the knee and its left arm at the shoulder with a scything upward hack, and with a final devastating kick, sent the Mustang spiraling away, spewing smoke and sparks.

"_Andy!_" Mwu screamed.

"Don't worry about me!" Andy's garbled voice shot back. "You have— "

The line went dead— Mwu's eyes flashed furiously, as the Akatsuki charged, brandishing its saber.

"You _bastard!_" he shouted. Neo grinned ferociously back. "Whatever it takes, I swear, I'll take you down!"

The two mobile suits met with a crash and a cascade of sparks.

"We'll see, little Mwu!" Neo laughed.

——————————————————————————————————————————

With a scream, Auel drove the beam blade of his lance into the Gunbarrel Windam's cockpit, and before it could explode, he kicked the sparking remains towards another Windam. The third Windam lunged up over its dying comrade, beam saber raised— Auel deflected it with the staff of his lance, and grinned.

"Too slow, bitch!" he shouted, firing the Callidus cannon and spearing it through the Windam's torso. He lunged up over the fireball, firing at the remaining Windam with a beam cannon barrage. It drew back behind its shield— Auel laughed victoriously as he swept in, and before the Windam could react, slashed it in half with his beam lance.

Nearby, Sting grunted in annoyance, spiraling through a volley of beam rifle shots and railgun shells, and swung his weapon pods around to shower his opponents with missiles. They drew back behind their shields— Sting lunged up into the face of the first Windam. It raised its rifle towards his torso— he tore its arm off with a beam claw-assisted kick, and as it struggled to regain its balance, Sting wiped it out with a beam rifle shot. The remaining two Windams arced in, beam sabers drawn— Sting pulled back.

"I don't think so!" he yelled, eyes flashing. The mobile weapon pods arced in behind the second Windam, tearing it apart with a pair of beam blasts. The last Windam began to pull back, firing its beam rifle desperately. Sting smirked, hedging it in with beams from the weapon pods, before he finally leveled off his own rifle and fired.

One thunderous explosion later, the Chaos and Abyss glanced back at the _Girty Lue_.

"W-What the hell happened?!" Auel exclaimed. The _Girty Lue_, pitted and smoldering and spewing columns of smoke, came rumbling down towards the Requiem. It fired its three remaining Gottfried cannons again, but the shots again had no effect.

"Sting, Auel," Lee's garbled, broken voice said through the Chaos and Abyss's cockpits, "the ship's weapons can't punch through that positron reflector."

"Then what are you going to do?!" Auel demanded.

There was a pause.

"I'll ram the _Girty Lue_ into the Requiem," Lee said.

"_What?!_" Sting exclaimed. "That's suicide!"

Lee looked at them grimly— their eyes fell. The _Girty Lue_ rumbled forward.

"I'm a bitter old man with nothing to return to," Lee said, as the _Girty Lue_ shook. "The most I can do for you now is give my life for you, so that you won't end up like me."

A squadron of Doppelhorn Daggers came charging up towards the _Girty Lue— _Auel lunged into their path, beating them back with a beam cannon barrage. Sting finished them off with his weapon pods, and they both darted aside as the _Girty Lue_'s engines roared to life.

"Captain…" Sting started.

"We can get you out of there!" Auel protested. "You don't have to die!"

"Without someone to guide the ship, they might knock it off course," Lee responded. "This is the last thing I can do for you. Now go, find Stella, and find some reason to live outside of the Alliance's grip." He narrowed his eyes at the ominous pit of the Requiem. "I'll give my life so that you can have your own!"

Sting and Auel watched, tears in their eyes, as the _Girty Lue_ plowed forward, disregarding desperate mobile suits in front of it. Sting squeezed his eyes shut— the Chaos offered a grim salute.

On the bridge, Lee saluted back, and smiled.

The _Girty Lue_ slammed into the positron shield, bursting through with a crash and a shriek of twisting metal. It burst down into the depths of the cannon— on the bridge, as sparks and smoke filled the air, Lee's eyes flashed.

"For everything you took from me, Neo," he shouted, "_I'll take it all back!_"

The _Girty Lue_ fired its Gottfrieds. The Requiem exploded— Lee smiled as he vanished in the blast.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The remote turrets streaked around the battlefield, firing helplessly at the Apocalypse as it stormed forward, unstoppable, brandishing its beam saber and charging towards the Akatsuki. Neo laughed victoriously, coming down with a powerful downward hack. Mwu grunted angrily, stopping it with his twin saber's bottom blade.

"Too late!" Neo laughed, raising his beam rifle. Mwu's eyes flashed— with a surge of strength, he shoved the Apocalypse's saber aside, sawing its beam rifle in half. Neo growled, backing away and drawing his second beam saber, pushing the Akatsuki back with a barrage of beam cannon shots.

"You son of a bitch!" Mwu snarled. "You killed Andy! I swear I'll tear you apart!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Neo shot back, pounding the Akatsuki with another beam volley. Mwu struggled to return fire with his remote turrets, but the Apocalypse's positron shield shrugged it all off, charging forward, raising both beam sabers. "You always came close but not close enough! And that's how you'll die, Mwu— close, _but not close enough!_"

The Apocalypse slammed into the Akatsuki, throwing it back. Neo grinned, lining up for a finishing beam cannon volley—

A red mobile suit's arm clamped down diagonally over the Apocalypse's torso, and with a crash, the maimed, sparking Mustang latched onto the Apocalypse from behind.

"_What?!_" Neo screamed in disbelief.

"Mwu!" Andy shouted, a triumphant grin on his scarred face. "You're not the only one who makes the impossible possible!"

There was a flash of light, and a moment later, the Mustang exploded.

Instinct took over, guiding Mwu's hands, as he saw the blast rip the Apocalypse's two backpack binders off, and send both of its arms and its right leg flying. The Akatsuki charged, brandishing its twin saber.

"Dammit!" Neo snapped, tugging at the controls. "He took out the reflector array!" He looked up at a familiar sensation, a white bolt of energy crackling in the air before him.

He never had time to scream before the Akatsuki's beam saber blasted through the cockpit.

Scowling viciously, Mwu slashed the Apocalypse in half and took cover behind his shield as his gutted opponent exploded into a dazzling fireball. He backed away, staring mournfully at it.

"Andy…"

Mwu looked up furiously at Solomon's Sword.

"It won't be in vain," he said.

The Akatsuki took off with a flash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

As a GuAIZ R exploded, a beam shot torn through its chest, Shinn backed away, scanning the battlefield. He was still no closer to Solomon's Sword, and he was making no progress on his own.

Another GINN went down in flames and smoke, and from the debris, the Strike Rouge lunged up, shouldering its bazooka and squeezing off a shot to slam into the cockpit of an unsuspecting Blaze ZAKU Warrior.

"Luna!" Shinn exclaimed, throwing the Destiny towards the Strike Rouge and deflecting a Slash ZAKU Warrior's beam Gatling burst with his beam shield. Luna returned fire with her bazooka, blowing the ZAKU apart. "Save some shells for later!"

"I know that!" Luna shot back, blocking a beam shot with her shield. Shinn returned fire with his own rifle, cutting down a GuAIZ R before it could fire again.

Shinn turned his burning eyes towards the imposing form of Messiah up ahead, protected by its shimmering beam shield. He could sense the Chairman there— he could sense evil emanating from there. It would not be enough to destroy Solomon's Sword— he had to destroy Chairman Dullindal as well.

"Come with me," he said to Luna. "We're heading after the Chairman."

The Destiny and Strike Rouge took off together.

Across the battlefield, in front of Messiah, nestled in the protective confines of his METEOR, Rey scowled as he felt Shinn approach. He armed the METEOR's weapons, charging towards the Destiny and Strike Rouge. The crosshairs passed over them both— he opened fire. Shinn's eyes flashed, his beam shields springing to life to deflect the shots.

"Rey!" he shouted.

"That's Rey?!" Luna exclaimed. The Destiny took off, activating its beam wings.

"I'll handle him!" Shinn yelled back.

Rey sneered, firing his beam cannons and a cloud of missiles again. "I will not let you reach Messiah!" he said, igniting both of his beam swords. Shinn narrowed his eyes, Newtype energy flashing— the missiles arced around him, disappearing into space. Rey scowled, charging, and swung his swords horizontally— Shinn somersaulted effortlessly over them, ducking aside as Rey followed up with another beam cannon volley.

"You think you can beat me with _that_ thing?!" Shinn growled. "It's all bulk!"

With a snarl, Rey returned fire again— Shinn ducked aside again, afterimages flashing around him. The Legend pulled back as Shinn squeezed off a beam cannon blast of his own, narrowly missing the METEOR. Rey swung both of his swords up, bringing them down on the Destiny— Shinn blocked them both with his beam shields, sliding down under the blades and slamming his hands into the swords, tearing them apart with his palm cannons.

"Dammit," Rey snarled, abandoning the beam swords and pulling back with a beam cannon barrage. Shinn slalomed aside it, and the Destiny raised its hand. Rey looked over his shoulder in disbelief, as the METEOR's own missiles slammed into him from behind, wiping out the METEOR's engine array.

As the METEOR exploded, the Destiny and the Strike Rouge took off. The Destiny used its beam shields to force open a hole in Messiah's shining protective barrier— the two mobile suits slipped through.

And as Rey pulled himself from the wreckage of his METEOR, drawing his beam rifle, he scowled, watching them go. The Legend took off after them.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Up ahead loomed Solomon's Sword— Stella glared at it. It was something scary— she had to destroy it. Otherwise, the war wouldn't end, and Shinn would never be happy.

She glanced over her shoulder, finding two mobile suits approaching— and Stella's eyes lit up as she discovered the Chaos and the Abyss falling into formation next to her.

"This is more like it," Sting said with a sad smile.

"We're on the same side now," Auel added. "So let's end this fucking war."

At the Gaia's side, the Chaos and Abyss glanced up ahead. "Are you going after that thing?" Sting asked, the Chaos gesturing towards Solomon's Sword. Stella nodded grimly.

"Wait!" Auel shouted. The three Gundams jetted apart as a beam shot sliced by them— Stella's eyes flashed, scanning the black sky for their attacker.

Inside the Providence ZAKU, beam rifle drawn, Valentine smirked.

"Three annoying little Extended," she said sardonically. "I hope you enjoyed your lease on those machines." The Providence ZAKU's DRAGOONs lifted off with a flash. "Now you are no longer useful!"

The DRAGOONs took off. Sting and Auel backed away behind their shields, as Stella lunged forward, diving effortlessly through the DRAGOON shots and charging towards the Providence ZAKU. Valentine grinned, opening fire with her beam rifle as the DRAGOONs swarmed around the Chaos and Abyss, throwing them back.

"You are someone scary," Stella snarled, dodging the Providence ZAKU's fire and squeezing off a shot of her own. The Providence ZAKU slapped it aside with its left-hand shield, skirting aside as the Gaia tried to flank it. "You shouldn't exist!"

"Come and get me, little girl!" Valentine laughed, firing again at the Gaia and forcing it to spiral around her shots. Stella glanced over urgently at the Chaos and Abyss.

"Don't worry about us!" Sting snapped, as a volley of beam shots slammed against his shield and drove him backward. The Abyss opened fire with a beam cannon barrage of its own, but the DRAGOONs darted away, unharmed.

Stella ducked aside from another rifle shot and switched to her beam saber, rocketing up behind the Providence ZAKU. Valentine whirled around angrily, bringing her rifle to bear, but an instant later, Stella hacked it in two.

"Damn you!" Valentine growled, throwing the rifle's sparking half back into the Gaia's face and pulling back. Stella batted the ruined beam rifle aside with her shield— the Providence ZAKU drew a double-bladed beam axe from its rear skirt armor, twirling it over its head and bringing the activated blade down with a crash onto the Gaia's beam saber. The Providence ZAKU jetted backward, then charged forward again with another overhead swing. Stella dove aside, moving in behind the Providence ZAKU, beam saber raised— Valentine whirled around to block Stella's saber strike with her beam axe.

Nearby, Sting scowled ferociously as he veered through the DRAGOON fire.

"I can do that too, bastard!" he shouted, as the Chaos's weapon pods lifted off and returned fire. A swarm of missiles went streaking across the battlefield, catching one of the DRAGOONs and wiping it out. Sting somersaulted up over another DRAGOON, picking it off with his rifle, and went back on the defensive as the DRAGOONs tightened their formation. One of the larger DRAGOON units came racing in from behind, beam spike activated— Sting's eyes flashed, as he batted it aside with his shield and shot it down with his beam rifle. Up above, another DRAGOON lined up for a killing shot from above— Sting jetted aside, dodging its shot and firing back, spearing the remote weapon and blowing it apart. He pulled his weapon pods back around him, unleashing a spray of missiles across the battlefield and taking down another DRAGOON.

Beam shots streaked around the Abyss as Auel spiraled out of harm's way, scowling.

"No you don't!" he screamed, taking cover behind his shoulder shells. "Damn you…!" The beam spike DRAGOON came streaking in— with a scream, Auel snapped open the Abyss's shoulder shells, knocking the DRAGOON back, and slashed it in half with his beam lance. Another DRAGOON lined up in front of him to open fire— Auel cut it down with a Callidus shot. "These things aren't so tough!" he cried, whirling around and dodging another beam volley. He somersaulted up above a trio of beam shots, firing back with a beam cannon barrage that took down another DRAGOON. The final two DRAGOONs charged towards him, beam cannons blazing— Auel snarled a curse, deflecting their shots with his shoulder shells. At last, as they came close enough, he snapped the shells open, knocking them both back, and fired his shell cannons to take them both out.

The Chaos and Abyss both looked up, as the Providence ZAKU and Gaia dueled overhead.

"We don't have time to play these fucking games," Auel said, frowning.

Sting raised his beam rifle. "Then let's go help Stella," he said.

The two Gundams took off with a flash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"We have to take out the Chairman," Shinn explained urgently, as the Destiny and Strike Rouge blasted forward, towards Messiah. "He's the one who built that thing. He's the one who will use it. If we don't kill him here, he'll just build another weapon."

"I understand that," Luna said testily, "but if he's inside that fortress, how the hell are we going to get to him?"

Shinn scowled. "We'll find a way," he insisted. "We— "

A flurry of beam shots cut him off— the two mobile suits rocketed apart as a wave of green bolts slashed between them. Shinn looked back towards their attacker—

"It's Rey!" Luna exclaimed, taking cover behind her shield.

Behind the Destiny and Strike Rouge, the Legend Gundam came charging forward, beam rifle drawn.

Shinn leapt out in front of the Strike Rouge, arming his beam rifle. "You can't keep up with him in the Rouge!" he shouted. "I'll take care of him!"

Before Luna could protest, the Destiny took off, firing down at the Legend. Inside the cockpit, Rey scowled, ducking around the Destiny's shots and launching his DRAGOONs.

"How dare you, Shinn," he growled, as the DRAGOONs blazed around the Destiny. Shinn activated his beam wings with a flash, afterimages swarming around him. "How dare you stand between us and justice!" The DRAGOONs stormed in, pounding the Destiny's beam shields with a wave of green beam fire. "The PLANTs have been destroyed! Our people our gone! And yet you still defy us, when it cannot be clearer that it is Lord Djibril who must be stopped if there is to be peace!"

Shinn scowled back, diving through the Legend's DRAGOON fire and squeezing off three shots at the Legend itself. "You're going to do the same thing he did!" Shinn snapped. The Legend somersaulted over the Destiny's shots, returning fire with its rifle and DRAGOONs and forcing Shinn back on the defensive. "I'm not going to let you destroy the entire world to ease your pain!" He dove through another web of beams, pursuing the Legend with a beam cannon blast that the Legend easily skirted. "What Djibril did was bad enough! I'm not going to let you do something worse!"

"You fool!" Rey shot back, the DRAGOONs punctuating his words. He drew a beam javelin from the Legend's left leg with a snap of his wrist, bringing it down on the Destiny's beam shield. "You would dare deny these soldiers, bereft of home and family, their justice?!"

The Destiny surged, drawing its anti-ship sword with a flourish and charging, surrounded by afterimages. "_Justice is not killing more people!_" Shinn screamed. "I thought you were a Newtype, Rey! Don't you feel it when people die?! Don't you _care!?_"

The Legend came down with a harrowing overhead javelin hack that Shinn stopped horizontally with his sword. "Of course I feel it!" Rey cried. "I feel every death you feel! I felt the pain of watching the PLANTs collapse! I felt them _all_ die!" The Legend surged forward, throwing the Destiny back, and forcing Shinn back on the defensive with another wave of DRAGOON fire. "Why do you _think_ I'm fighting to realize Gil's new world?!" The Legend pursued with a beam rifle blast— Shinn darted aside, as he spiraled his way through the Legend's DRAGOON volleys and left a shimmering trail of afterimages behind him. "I'm fighting for a world where people don't have to fight these pointless wars and die, so that we Newtypes don't have to feel the pain of their deaths!" The Legend rocketed up after the Destiny, firing its beam rifle madly. "I would carry that banner myself if I could, but my body is betraying me! I gave that dream to you, so that you could build that world for us!" Shinn ground his teeth as the Legend lunged up, coming back down with another javelin hack that Shinn stopped with his sword. "_You betrayed me too!_" Rey shouted. "And now, after we of ZAFT have lost _everything_, even now you and your sanctimonious leader come before us, telling us that we have no right to seek revenge! _Your people have been destroyed, Shinn! Does that not move you to pity?!_"

"You _IDIOT!_" Shinn screamed, charging and pushing the Legend back with his sword. "What do you _think_ will happen if you fire that thing at the Earth?! _People will die!_ And we'll _both_ have to feel it and suffer through it! What the hell did you _think_ would happen?!"

"That is a pain I am willing to endure!" Rey replied, boosting backward and letting his DRAGOONs go back on the attack. "The Earth has started the last two wars, not the PLANTs! They are the source of our pain— if they will not be accommodated, they will be eradicated!"

The Legend charged back towards the Destiny, beam blades clashing and showering each other with sparks.

"I thought you were a Newtype, Rey!" Shinn snarled. "Where are your powers of understanding?! _Why don't you understand?!"_

"You have no right to question _my_ understanding!" Rey shot back. The Legend surged again, shoving the Destiny back and swarming its DRAGOONs through the Destiny's translucent afterimages. "Even now, with all of our pain, you tell us that we cannot have revenge, the only thing we have left!"

"You're not after revenge!" screamed Shinn, diving through the DRAGOON fire and lunging up towards the Legend. "_You're after genocide!_"

The Legend raged forward again, slamming into the Destiny and shoving it back. "Enough of this!" he snapped. "Your intransigence is your undoing!" He swung up his beam rifle to fire—

Another beam blast cut him off, forcing him back. Rey dove upwards, keeping his DRAGOONs focused on the Destiny— his eyes widened in surprise.

"Lunamaria!"

Inside the Strike Rouge, beam rifle pointed up at the Legend, Luna scowled determinedly at the Legend.

"I won't let Shinn fight alone," she said. "Even if I can only distract you, I'll do it!" The Strike Rouge roared up towards the Legend, firing again and forcing it back. "I have power too!"

"Luna!" Shinn cried, desperately dodging Rey's DRAGOON fire. "Don't! You can't handle him!"

"You are always here…" Rey snarled, returning fire with his own rifle and dodging the Strike Rouge's shots. "You are always the weakest link…"

The DRAGOONs vanished— Shinn realized in horror that they were no longer aiming for him.

"I'll take you down, Rey!" Luna yelled, raising her beam rifle.

Rey's eyes flashed furiously. "_Disappear!"_

Shinn reached up in horror. "_Luna!_"

The DRAGOONs opened fire— a barrage of beams slammed into the Strike Rouge, blowing off its limbs and its Aile Striker and halting the maimed mobile suit in its tracks. Rey leveled off his beam rifle and fired—

The final beam shot speared the Strike Rouge in the chest, and Shinn's eyes widened in horror.

"Shinn," he heard Luna's voice say, "tell Athrun I'm sorry...I couldn't keep my promise..."

"Luna…" Shinn whispered.

The Strike Rouge exploded.

"_LUNA!_"

Inside the Legend, Rey narrowed his eyes at the Destiny.

"Shinn," he said, as the fireball faded, "Lunamaria was a traitor." There was no response. "You are a traitor as well. This is the fate that you have chosen for yourself."

The Destiny was silent. Rey assembled the DRAGOONs and launched them forward—

And then there was a slicing, burning flash of pressure in his mind. The DRAGOONs were wrenched from his mind's grip; he watched them reassemble themselves around the Destiny. It pointed at the Legend; they charged back at Rey; Rey's eyes widened in disbelief—

A moment later, Rey found himself dodging fire from his own DRAGOONs.

A blaze of beam shots ripped by the Legend; Rey activated his beam shields and pulled back.More beam shots flashed around the Legend; Rey tried to fire back with his beam rifle, but the DRAGOONs were faster than he had ever seen them, and he was put back on a desperate defensive.

"Impossible," he grunted, as the shots slammed against the Legend's beam shields. "Is he such a powerful Newtype that he can use the Legend's DRAGOON system when I'm in the Legend's cockpit?!" More beam shots singed the surface of the Legend's armor. "That's impossible!"

"I won't forgive you, Rey!" Shinn screamed, tears stinging his dull, angry eyes. "I won't let you live! I won't let Dullindal make his new world! _I'LL KILL YOU BOTH FIRST!_"

Rey's eyes widened in disbelief as the beam spike DRAGOONs charged and slashed through his beam rifle, forcing him to abandon it. He drew the Legend's beam javelins, activating them to desperately use the blades to parry the beam shots.

"_I won't forgive you!_" Shinn shrieked; the DRAGOONs punctuated his words with a flurry of beam shots.

"How powerful can he _be?!_" Rey hissed under his breath, as he twisted and dove through more beam fire. The pressure flashed through Rey's mind, and the DRAGOONs fired simultaneously—

The Legend was pummeled by beam shots, and with a shudder, its left leg, left arm, left hip armor, and right shoulder armor went spiraling away. He dove out of the path of more beam shots, igniting his remaining beam javelin and bursting up over the Destiny, javelin raised.

"Stop this! _SHINN!_"

Another blaze of pressure ripped into Rey's mind; the Destiny's hand shot up; it tore the Legend's right arm off at the elbow with its palm cannon, and forced the Legend back with a kick to the chest.

"_I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!_" Shinn screamed; the DRAGOONs came blazing in; Rey dove out of the way desperately.The DRAGOONs followed Rey as he tried to retreat; Rey stared in disbelief at Shinn.

"_DIE!_" Shinn shrieked; the DRAGOONs flashed in again.

Rey's eyes went wide in shock; Shinn scowled; the beam spike DRAGOONs came flashing in from behind—

An instant later, the DRAGOONs impaled the Legend's cockpit. Rey's pressure disappeared; the Legend exploded.

Shinn watched, trembling, struggling not to cry.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Valentine winced as she felt herself lose another DRAGOON. She had underestimated the Chaos and Abyss, but that meant little. She could still take on the Gaia.

The Providence ZAKU brought its beam axe down with a crash, slamming the blade into the Gaia's shield and knocking it back. Valentine laughed triumphantly, drawing a beam tomahawk and hurling it down towards the Gaia— Stella's eyes flashed, and she somersaulted over the spiraling weapon, slashing it in half with her saber and charging up towards the Providence ZAKU. The two mobile suits met with a thunderous crash.

"I'll tear you apart!" Stella screamed.

The Providence ZAKU put all its force behind its beam axe, shoving the Gaia away, and stormed forward again, twirling the axe at its side.

"You're just a shadow of a soldier!" Valentine cried. "You can't beat me!"

The Providence ZAKU lunged up, bringing its axe down— the Gaia swung back, stopping the blade with its beam saber. Stella let out a scream, charging forward, shoving the axe aside, and slashing it in two. Valentine's eyes widened in disbelief— she realized in horror that her DRAGOONs were gone, and a moment later, a barrage of beam cannon blasts slammed into the Providence ZAKU. The machine's right leg, left arm, and backpack went spiraling away, spewing smoke and sparks— Valentine's eyes widened in disbelief as she glanced down at the Chaos and Abyss.

"Now _GO AWAY!_" Stella shrieked.

The Gaia swept down into the Providence ZAKU's face, impaling its head on its beam saber, and with a jarring kick, sent the ruined mobile suit streaking away.

Inside the sparking, broken Providence ZAKU, Valentine fired the machine's remaining engines and angled towards Messiah, scowling.

Stella replaced her beam saber and switched back to her beam rifle, glancing back at Sting and Auel. They looked down towards the Moon— the four remaining Destroy Gundams were beginning to blast their way up towards the space fleet, and it would only be a matter of time before they reached the _Megami_.

Stella looked over at Sting and Auel. They both nodded, and the three Gundams took off towards the Destroys.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

ZAFT mobile space fortress Messiah

"The NEO-GENESIS system is at 87 charge, sir," one of the deckhands reported.

Sitting in his chair, Gilbert Dullindal scowled ferociously. He saw up ahead the wreckage of the Legend Gundam— even Rey had fallen.

"Horatio," he said, glancing at the towering National Defense Council chairman, "I will leave command of Messiah to you. I will transfer to the _Minerva_."

"Understood," Horatio said, saluting sharply. Gilbert rose and turned to leave.

_As long as I still have the Sword,_ he told himself, as he headed down the corridors towards his shuttle, _I haven't lost everything_.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The guns blazed desperately as the unstoppable Destiny Gundam raged forward, armed with the Strike Rouge's fallen bazooka. Inside the cockpit, Shinn's eyes flashed, furious, dull, and lightless. Luna had died here with him— he would not let that death be for nothing.

A squadron of ZAFT mobile suits rose up before him, beam rifles blazing— Shinn ground his teeth, charging towards them, and cut two of them in half with his beam wings. The ZAFT units split up— Shinn ducked around their shots, an army of afterimages in his wake, and whirled around to fire a bazooka shell at a GuAIZ R following too closely. He stormed down towards the massive dish-shaped construct on the surface of Messiah.

"Dullindal," he growled, "I'll stop you, somehow, I swear!"

The Destiny rocketed past another desperate squadron of mobile suits, ripping them apart with his beam wings, and armed the bazooka.

In the Messiah control room, Horatio's eye widened in disbelief.

"Destiny approaching!" one of the soldiers cried. "He's heading for the NEO-GENESIS array!"

"Stop him!" Horatio roared.

The Destiny's eyes flashed, diving through the last vestige of beam rifle fire from the last desperate defenders, and with a final scream, he slammed his bazooka down into the center of the NEO-GENESIS array, pumping shells into it.

Fire erupted out of the array— Shinn backed away and took off, a cloud of afterimages following him. He whirled around, watching emotionlessly as the NEO-GENESIS array exploded. Messiah was wracked by explosions and staggered back, out of the fight.

Shinn turned his furious eyes towards Solomon's Sword.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be concluded…


	50. Phase 50: Shangri La

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

Before we begin the final chapter here, I have a couple things to say…

I want to extend my thanks to the guys and gals at the Mecha Talk forums, for putting up with this thing from more-or-less-beginning to end. Their, ahem, diverse opinions provided the general slap upside the head I occasionally needed and couldn't get elsewhere. And they put up with me throughout most the creative process, so that alone should score them a collective Nobel Prize, if not an all-expense-paid cruise to Aruba.

My thanks also go out to my beta readers, few and far between but invaluable nonetheless, and the people who have stopped to extend their comments to me. Y'all know who you are—you're probably still going through therapy over it—and I appreciate the help. Feedback from other human beings is what made this story what it is.

And last, but quite far from least, I want to thank my friend harotype, or as some of you may know her, SoreDewa, for watching me nurture this idea from the harmless little seedling it was a couple of years ago into the remorseless gargantuan monster it is today. Every step of the way she was there, to serve as editor, confidant, and whatever-you-call-the-person-who-tells-you-you're-being-retarded. Without her, this story wouldn't be half of what it is now. Thanks, harotype—I love ya.

To address what will probably be a concern, _**yes, there will be a sequel.**_ There will actually be a series of sequels, in a vein similar to the fanfic series that is ending here. However, don't go looking for them to be posted here anytime soon— I'll post them when they're ready, and they will be ready when they are ready. So in that sense, I am very faithful to my deadlines.

With that said, here we go with the last chapter. Enjoy!

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 50 - Shangri La

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

January 17th, CE 74 - ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, near the Moon

Gilbert Dullindal burst onto the _Minerva_'s bridge like a tornado, a hideous scowl on his usually calm face.

"Take me to Solomon's Sword," he ordered, standing tall over the awed bridge crew. "The battle is turning against us. We must seize the opportunity to fire the Sword while it still ours for the taking."

"Chairman— " Talia began.

"Don't argue with me," Gilbert cut her off. "So long as I can rally what is left of our fleet, our cause is not lost. Take me to Solomon's Sword, and we will win this war yet."

Talia stood up, turning to face the Chairman, her eyes flashing.

"Chairman," she said, "why are you doing this?" She pointed vindictively at Solomon's Sword. "Why are you answering one massacre with another?! What kind of understanding world of Newtypes is built on bodies?! We've already lost everything— is that not enough?!"

Gilbert scowled, drew a gun from inside his coat, and wordlessly shot Talia through the heart.

The bridge went silent, staring in shock at their dead captain and man who had killed her. Gilbert calmly put his gun back in his coat.

"Vice Captain Trine," he said testily, "if you will be so kind— "

Arthur whirled around, pulling a pistol of his own from inside his uniform. Gilbert's eyes widened in surprise—

He had no chance to say anything before Arthur shot him in the head.

Arthur abandoned his gun, rushing to Talia side, but there was no pulse— her uniform was stained red, her chest still, her eyes lightless and lifeless. Arthur felt tears well up in his eyes, staring in horror at his dead captain.

"Vice Captain…" Malik began, struggling for words.

Arthur looked up, turning his angry eyes towards Solomon's Sword. "Get someone up here to man my console," he said furiously. "I'm taking command."

"What are we going to do…?" Burt asked.

Arthur pulled himself wearily into Talia's seat, clenching his fists over the armrests.

"We're going to destroy Solomon's Sword."

Burt, Malik, Chen, and Meyrin glanced at each other, and nodded.

The _Minerva_ turned towards Solomon's Sword, and its engines came to life.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Athrun narrowed his eyes as felt a strange approaching pressure— not as strong as Shinn or Lacus, but familiar. He magnified the image in the direction the pressure was coming from.

Up ahead, armored in its METEOR, the Strike Freedom Gundam came charging forward. Kira's eye flashed venomously— finally he would have his chance to destroy Athrun.

The Strike Freedom abandoned its METEOR, brandishing its beam rifles and storming forward. Athrun pulled back behind his beam shield as the Strike Freedom opened fire— the Infinite Justice ignited its array of beam sabers and charged back, trying to move in close.

"There you are!" Kira snapped, combining his rifles and firing a shimmering blast towards the Infinite Justice. "You have nowhere to hide now, Athrun! I'll finally take you down, and I'll finally set the world right!"

The beams flashed around the Infinite Justice, as Athrun ducked aside, returning fire with his beam rifle. "You're one to talk about peace!" Athrun shouted back, charging forward and igniting his boomerang blade. The blade came crashing down on the Strike Freedom's beam shield. "After you killed your own sister!"

"She was an obstacle to peace!" Kira shot back, the Strike Freedom surging forward and pushing the Infinite Justice back.

"She was an _advocate_ of peace!" Athrun screamed, charging back with the full force of the Infinite Justice's engines and ramming the Strike Freedom in the chest. He threw the white mobile suit back, leveling off his beam rifle for a killing shot, but Kira rocketed aside at the last moment. "She wanted to build the kind of world you wanted! We were fighting for _you!_ _You_ were the one who wanted a world where you wouldn't have to fight!"

The Strike Freedom switched to its beam saber, slamming it down onto the Infinite Justice's boomerang blade with a shower of sparks. "That was what I thought Lacus could show me!" Kira cried. "But look at the way the world ended up! I fought and I suffered and I watched _you_ kill Fllay, and for all that, look where we are now!" His eye flashed furiously. "For all that suffering, just _look at me now!_ I'm not even _human_ anymore! How am I supposed to smile and wait with you, and wait with Lacus, for a new world that will _NEVER COME!?_"

The Strike Freedom charged again— Athrun scowled, switching to his twin beam saber and deflecting the Strike Freedom's horizontal saber swipe. "Firing Solomon's Sword and killing us all isn't the answer either!" he yelled back, somersaulting over the Strike Freedom's head. Athrun whirled around, leg beam saber flashing to life— the Strike Freedom was there to stop it with a beam saber blow, the blades pressing uselessly against each other. "Does Rau have you that blind?! The answer to people dying _IS NOT TO KILL MORE PEOPLE!"_

"Then what _IS_ the answer?!" Kira screamed back, kicking the Infinite Justice in the stomach and sending it reeling back. "_You_ don't know the answer, or else we wouldn't even be fighting!" The Strike Freedom took off, saber pulled back for a finishing blow. "But _I've_ found it, and I _won't let you get in its way!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_

"Is that the Freedom?!" Murrue exclaimed, staring in disbelief at the screen, watching the Infinite Justice and Strike Freedom do battle. "Kira…?!"

Lacus looked on grimly. He was there— she could feel his pressure, pulsing with hatred. But there was still a tiny flicker of the old, kind Kira that she had known and loved before…and that flicker could still be saved.

"Pull back!" Murrue ordered. "Go around them! We don't want to attract his attention!"

"And just leave Athrun to fend for himself?!" Miriallia exclaimed. Murrue looked at her in surprise. "He's still one of us!"

"Athrun is a superb pilot," Lacus put in, forcing her voice to be calm. "He can take care of himself. But this ship will be torn apart if Kira notices us and attacks us."

The _Megami_ rumbled as the engines shifted. Lacus glanced over at Sai, and then returned her attention to the battle. She closed her eyes, feeling Kira's presence again. The flicker was still there.

"Sai," she said quietly, glancing over at him— he looked back in surprise. "It's time."

Sai nodded dourly, standing up.

"Captain," Lacus continued, rising to her feet. "Please call someone to take Sai's place on the bridge for the time being. I have something I must do, and I will need Sai to take the Strike to help me."

"What?!" Murrue exclaimed. "Lacus, wait, where are you— "

Lacus and Sai were already heading out the door.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shaking his head violently, Shinn looked up through cloudy, dull eyes at Solomon's Sword. Lunamaria had died to get him this far— he would not let that death be in vain.

A beam rifle shot came streaking towards him— the Destiny flashed aside, afterimages glowing, as Shinn scanned the skies for his attacker. A GuAIZ R came racing down, wielding its beam rifle— Shinn cut it down with a beam rifle shot and stormed forward.

Up ahead, a _Laurasia_-class frigate rose up in front of him, beam cannons blazing. A squadron of ZAFT mobile suits raged towards him, rifles blazing— Shinn's eyes flashed furiously.

"Stop fighting me!" he shouted, charging back. The mobile suits spread out around him— Shinn ducked around their shots, afterimages swirling around him and distracting the enemy shots. A GINN rushed towards him, sword upraised— Shinn took it down with a palm cannon blow to the chest. "Stop fighting like this!" The mobile suits continued to give chase— Shinn dove up towards the _Laurasia_, switching to his anti-ship sword. "_STOP PROTECTING THIS THING!_"

With a scream, Shinn slammed his sword into the _Laurasia_'s bridge. As the crippled vessel spewed sparks, he pounded a beam cannon shot into the ship's exposed innards, ripping it apart. The ship's mobile suit protectors pulled back behind their shields— Shinn took off over the dying ship's fiery hull, switching back towards his beam rifle and pointing it at Solomon's Sword.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"The Chairman is dead," Rau said with a chuckle, shutting off the screen. He swarmed the Providence Gundam's DRAGOONs around the surface of Solomon's Sword, picking off a battalion of incoming Alliance mobile suits. "You forgot, Gilbert, what happened to the last man who tried to turn us all into Newtypes."

ZAFT's attack on the Daedalus Crater base was already falling apart, but that did not mean that Rau could not have the last laugh. He switched on the ZAFT global frequency, opening a channel to every ZAFT ship and mobile suit still operating on the battlefield.

"This is Commander Rau Le Creuset of the FAITH detachment," he boomed. "Messiah and the _Gondwana_ have both been destroyed, and Chairman Dullindal has been killed! I am taking command of the fleet!" He glanced around the battlefield— the ZAFT forces were falling back on all fronts. "Pull back around Solomon's Sword and defend it to the death, and even at this late and bleak hour, we shall claim victory!"

Rau smiled as the ZAFT fleet slowly began to tighten its formation around Solomon's Sword.

"Even in death," he chuckled, "you leave me a wonderful toy, Gilbert."

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

The Moon

Stella stared up angrily at the imposing shape before her. It was another Destroy Gundam, the X4, in attack mode, all of its beam cannons blazing as it rumbled forward, smashing ZAFT and Alliance mobile suits alike.

"We're gonna stop this thing?" Auel asked, glancing over at Stella.

"They're gonna destroy everything at this rate," Sting put in. "Stella— "

Stella's eyes flashed. "We're gonna destroy it!" she shouted, taking off. Sting and Auel smirked, taking off after her.

The Destroy fired its circumference cannons, blowing away dozens of mobile suits at once. The Gaia plowed through one of the beams with its shield, charging up and opening fire with its rifle. The blasts struck the Destroy's positron shield harmlessly— the Destroy's two red eyes flashed menacingly, and the Destroy fired again, focusing its guns on the three attacking Gundams.

"Jesus!" Sting snapped, spiraling aside from the blasts and deploying his weapon pods "How many guns does this damn thing _have?!"_

"It can't be invincible!" Auel cried. The Abyss lunged up overhead, firing a volley of his own back down at the Destroy's armor. The shots bounced away— the Destroy returned fire with a storm of missiles. "What the— ?!"

The Gaia leapt up in front of the Abyss, firing a wave of CIWS fire into the missiles' ranks and blowing them apart.

"Get close!" Stella shouted. "It can deflect beams!"

"Wha— ?!" Auel began— the Gaia rocketed down towards the Destroy, drawing its saber. "Since when was Stella the strategist?!" exclaimed, glancing at Sting.

"Who cares?!" Sting shot back, charging down after her. The Destroy opened fire, forcing the Abyss aside. "Auel, you distract it from long range! I'll keep it busy with the weapon pods; Stella can get in close and take this fucking thing out!"

The Abyss opened fire again. "Works for me!" Auel exclaimed.

The Gaia spiraled through the Destroy's beam cannon volleys, deflecting shots with its shield. The Destroy fired another barrage of missiles— Stella ducked underneath them and let Sting and Auel shoot them down with their CIWS guns.

"You're not scary!" Stella shouted, somersaulting over another beam cannon volley. "_I can beat you!_"

With a final beam cannon barrage, the Destroy transformed. The Gaia rocketed back, dodging more beams, as the Destroy changed into a towering giant, glowering down at the diminutive-looking Gaia.

"He can't use those guns on the side anymore!" Sting yelled, charging with his weapon pods. The Destroy's eyes flashed— its arms lifted off with a burst of exhaust, taking off and attacking the Chaos and Abyss. "What the— ?!"

The Destroy opened fire with the beam cannons lining its backpack— Stella leapt up off the lunar surface as the beams seared across the ground, taking off again as the Destroy peppered the sky with green bolts.

"It has remote weapons too?!" Auel shouted, taking cover behind his shoulder shells as the Destroy's right arm showered him with beams. "What _can't_ this damn thing do?!"

Stella rocketed up towards the Destroy, dodging beam fire from its backpack. A wave of red beams came blazing out from its chest— Stella leapt up over them, spiraling through the sky and dodging another blast from its mouth cannon. Another storm of beam shots came at her from the backpack, slamming into her shield and throwing her back.

"You…" she growled, diving through another wave of beams. "I…I won't let you win!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

As the missiles came down around him, Dearka clenched his teeth, ducking down behind his beam shields to ride out the storm. He had the edge of maneuverability, but this damn Destroy, the X3, soaring over him, could cover every angle he could conceivably attack from.

Eight more beam shots slammed into the Destroy from above, bouncing uselessly off the positron reflector shield. Dearka looked up in surprise— the Calypso and Savior came down next to him with a crash.

"Yzak!" he exclaimed. "What's the red one doing here?!"

"Shiho's on our side now," Yzak explained testily. "What the hell are you doing over here?!"

The Destroy opened fire again, finger cannons blazing, forcing the three Gundams apart. Inside the Savior, Shiho scowled down at the monstrous machine.

"I can distract it!" she exclaimed, transforming the Savior into its mobile armor mode and taking off. The Destroy fired its mouth cannon up at her, tracing her movements in the sky— she spiraled around the blasts, rocketing away and leading the Destroy's shots after her. The Calypso roared in, drawing its beam sabers and bringing them down with a crash— the Destroy slammed Yzak back with its left arm.

"Yzak!" Dearka shouted, leaping down in front of him and pounding the Destroy's positron shield with a beam cannon volley of his own. The Savior transformed back into its mobile suit mode, storming down from above and behind the Destroy, beam saber raised. "Damn this thing!" growled Dearka, pulling back behind his beam shields as the Destroy returned his fire tenfold. "There has to be _some_ way to damage it!"

"Get in close and use a saber!" Shiho exclaimed, charging down towards the Destroy's head. A blaze of beam shots from its backpack forced her aside. "The reflector can't block a saber at melee range!"

"Well, we have to _get_ to melee range!" Yzak snarled, as the Destroy blocked his hyper impulse cannon shots with its positron shield.

"One of us will at some point!" Dearka cried, firing a beam cannon barrage of his own down at the Destroy, and dodging its return fire. "As long as we can kill this thing, that's all that matters!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Infinite Justice shook as the Strike Freedom's saber slammed down onto its beam shield. Athrun scowled, throwing the Strike Freedom's arm aside and stabbing forward with his own saber. Kira deflected Athrun's saber with his own beam shield, charging forward and charging up his Callidus cannon.

"I've had enough of this!" Kira shouted. "_Die already!_"

Athrun somersaulted over the Strike Freedom's head as Kira fired his Callidus cannon, the red beam blazing down underneath the Infinite Justice's feet. Athrun whirled around, swinging his saber towards the Strike Freedom's back— Kira stopped it with his beam shield, surging forward and throwing the Infinite Justice back. He switched to his beam rifles, raising them towards the Infinite Justice—

Another mobile suit burst into his line of fire.

Kira's eye widened in disbelief as the Strike Gundam floated before him. It had no Striker pack, no shield, not even a beam rifle, but it was still floating defiantly between him and the Infinite Justice. He raised the Strike Freedom's right-hand beam rifle, pointing it at the Strike's cockpit. In the Infinite Justice, Athrun cursed under his breath and ignited the booster to move closer.

The hatch opened, and everything stopped as Lacus Clyne stepped out in a pink ZAFT flight suit.

"Kira!" she shouted. "Kira, why are you doing this?! Why are you trying to destroy the world to ease your own pain?!"

Kira watched her carefully. Over her shoulder, he saw the pilot; he magnified the image through his mechanical eye, and saw Sai Argyle in the cockpit of the Strike.

"This isn't the way your wounds will ever be healed!" Lacus went on. "You've just fallen for an evil person's lies, and he's leading you down a path of misery! Stop this, Kira! This isn't the way to protect the world!" Kira narrowed his eye at her. "Didn't we learn from GENESIS?! We can't make a future world by destruction! Solomon's Sword isn't going to purify the world! You're not protecting anyone like this! Kira!"

"Lacus, get back in the Strike!" Athrun shouted. "Kira's going to—

Kira scowled, his eye flashing, his hands trembling.

"_They lied to you,_" Valentine's echoing voice reminded him.

The Strike Freedom fired.

Lacus stared at the beam shot, unsure of what to think. Behind her, Sai stood up, turned her around, and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Lacus," he said.

They both vanished in the Strike Freedom's shot; the blast slammed into the Strike's open cockpit, and a moment later, the Strike was gone in the flash of a fireball.

Athrun's eyes widened in disbelief.

"_LACUS!_"

The seed exploded in his mind's eye, and the Infinite Justice took off with a roar towards the Strike Freedom.

"_WHY?!_" Athrun demanded, bringing his saber down with a crash. "_YOU EVEN HAD TO KILL LACUS! HOW MANY MORE OF US DO YOU HAVE TO KILL?!"_

"You'll all just been getting in the way!" Kira growled.

The Infinite Justice rushed forward, slamming its saber down again on the Strike Freedom's. "_I WILL KILL YOU, KIRA!_" Athrun swore. "_I PROMISE YOU, WHETHER IT'S ME OR SHINN, **YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!**_"

"You can't stop us now!" Kira shot back, the Strike Freedom rocketing away from the Infinite Justice. Athrun charged again, swinging his saber horizontally towards the Strike Freedom— Kira shoved him back with a point-blank railgun blast. "Whether or not I live is meaningless! You can't stop what we've started here!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

The Moon

Dipping down underneath a shimmering beam cannon blast, the _Minerva_ swung around, taking aim and firing back at the Destroy X5 with its Tristans. The shots slammed against the positron shield— the Destroy's eyes flashed furiously as it slowly turned to follow the winged warship.

"Our weapons can't break through that thing's shield!" Chen reported urgently from the weapons post. Arthur scowled at the towering foe.

"Then try something else! Neidhardt, Isolde, _FIRE!_"

The _Minerva_'s Isolde boomed, but the shots once again had no effect. The Destroy ignited a massive beam saber on its right forearm, raising the shimmering blade high.

"It's going to chop us in two!" Malik shouted.

"_Evade!_" Arthur cried. The beam came down with a flash—

The Force Impulse was there to stop the blade with its shield.

"Aoma!" Meyrin exclaimed.

"_Minerva_, Meyrin," Aoma answered, a thin smile on her lips, "get the Sword Silhouette ready for me."

The Force Impulse charged, shoving the Destroy's beam saber back into the sky, and took off underneath its arm, opening fire with its beam rifle. The shots could not break through the positron shield— Aoma switched to her beam saber, dodging a wave of beam blasts and racing up towards the Destroy's cockpit. The mammoth machine ignited the beam saber on its left hand, bringing it down on the Impulse— Aoma stopped it with her shield, as it sent her reeling back.

"Aoma!" Meyrin exclaimed. "Captain, can't we help her?!"

"Distract that thing so she can get in close!" Arthur shouted. "All missile tubes, _FIRE!_"

A storm of missiles took off from the _Minerva_'s hull, streaking in around the Destroy and pummeling its positron shield. The Destroy took a step back— Aoma charged back towards it, but the towering mobile suit drove her back with another beam cannon barrage.

"There has to be a way through that thing's defenses!" Arthur growled. "Charge the Tannhäuser! Aoma, we're counting on you to soften that thing up for us!"

Aoma grinned, even as she dodged a storm of beam fire. "Understood!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"She was the evangel of peace!" Athrun screamed, storming down towards the Strike Freedom with another saber blow. "She didn't lie to you!"

"_LIAR!_" Kira screamed, surging back up towards the Infinite Justice. Athrun opened fire with his beam cannons— the Strike Freedom plowed through the shots with its beam shield, ramming the Infinite Justice with its shoulder and throwing back. "_I'LL KILL YOU!_"

The Strike Freedom raised its rifles— before it could fire, the Infinite Justice took off.

"Kira!" a voice shouted. Kira glared angrily at his display— Rau stared back, calm and serious. "Retreat and help defend Solomon's Sword!"

"But Athrun— " Kira began.

Rau scowled. "That is an order!"

Kira growled angrily, deploying his DRAGOONs. The Infinite Justice came down with a saber swipe— Kira charged back, pushing it against the burning hulk of an Alliance battleship. He swarmed his DRAGOONs around the wreck, spearing it on beam shots and blowing it apart. Athrun grunted in frustration as the world shook around him.

Kira's eyes flashed, as he recalled his DRAGOONs and took off.

As the fireball faded, Athrun glared up at the retreating Strike Freedom. He glanced down towards the Moon— down below, a hulking Destroy was firing at a flashing golden mobile suit.

Athrun ground his teeth. Shinn would have to take care of Kira.

He took off towards the Destroy.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

The Moon

The remote turrets flashed over the lunar surface, spewing beams, but nothing could pierce the unstoppable Destroy X2's beam-deflecting hide. Mwu's eyes flashed furiously as the Akatsuki spiraled away from a barrage of missiles, letting the golden armor deflect the brunt of the Destroy's beam cannon volleys. The Akatsuki could deflect direct beam shots, but Mwu wasn't interested in seeing how much longer this ability would work.

The Destroy fired another barrage of missiles— Mwu scowled, pulling back with a burst of CIWS fire. The pilot had figured out his weakness already.

Three missiles escaped the inferno, streaking down towards the Akatsuki. Mwu's eyes widened in surprise—

A moment later, a beam shot down between the middle missile, blowing it apart and taking out the two flanking projectiles as well. The Infinite Justice dropped in before the Akatsuki, firing up at the Destroy.

"Athrun!" Mwu exclaimed, swarming his remote turrets to protect the Infinite Justice as the Destroy returned fire.

"Beams don't work on this thing?!" Athrun growled, as the beams slammed against the Akatsuki's defense screen. Mwu lunged up over the Infinite Justice, firing back with his beam rifle and turrets, but the Destroy shrugged off his barrage like nothing, blasting back with another beam cannon wave.

"How many guns can this thing fire!?" Mwu snapped, ducking aside and letting the errant shots dissipate against the Akatsuki's shining armor. "I thought you were fighting Kira!"

As Athrun spiraled through the beam barrages, returning fire with his rifle, struggling to get closer, his eyes darkened. "Kira retreated," he said grimly.

Mwu nodded, blocking another beam barrage with his shield. "We don't have time for this shit," he said. "I'll distract this damn thing, you get in close!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Destiny rocketed towards the imposing shape of Solomon's Sword; inside, Shinn scowled at the dark form of the sinister superweapon. That thing could no longer exist. He had felt Lacus die— he had felt Athrun surge with fury. Now he had to end this war, before anyone else could die.

In front of Solomon's Sword, Rau Le Creuset looked up at a familiar sensation. Up ahead, he could see the familiar translucent beam wings of the Destiny Gundam.

"Kira," he said, as the Providence glanced at the Strike Freedom. Kira nodded; both machines launched their DRAGOONs with a flash and opened fire.

Shinn's eyes widened as a white bolt split the air before him, and the Destiny slalomed through a wave of beam fire with a blur of afterimages. The Providence squeezed off a handful of beam shots, as the Strike Freedom combined its rifles and fired. The Destiny dodged again and stormed forward; another blaze of DRAGOONs stopped it.

"Fighting us again, are you?" Rau asked with a chuckle as the Destiny swerved and dodged. "There's always someone to try to stop the inevitable!"

The Strike Freedom fired a full burst; Kira scowled at the twisting and turning Destiny. "Get out of our way!" he snapped.

The DRAGOONs flashed in again, and Shinn dove around them, watching the Providence and Strike Freedom carefully. The Strike Freedom opened fire with another full burst, as the DRAGOONs swarmed around the Destiny.

"What good can you do here?!" Rau cackled. "If you stop them here, they'll just come back!" The Providence fired its beam cannons, spearing the Destiny's beam rifle and knocking its shield off its arm. Shinn grunted in frustration, abandoning his beam rifle as it was torn apart by more DRAGOON fire.

The Strike Freedom swept in with another full burst. Shinn backpedaled against the attack and swerved to avoid a flashing net of beam fire. He grunted as beam blasts landed against the Destiny's beam shields.

Across the battlefield, on the _Megami_, Murrue looked over in surprise at Miriallia.

"Shinn is attacking the Sword?!" she echoed in disbelief. "Can you contact him?"

"There's too much interference!" Milly exclaimed.

Inside the Infinite Justice, Athrun looked on in disbelief at the wave of beam cannon blasts surrounding a cloud of the Destiny's afterimages.

The Providence lined up for a killing beam volley.

"Humanity will be punished!" Rau cried. "There will finally be meaning to our suffering! They brought themselves to this point— do not stand in the way of their own destruction!"

The Strike Freedom unleashed a full burst, as the Providence's DRAGOONs swarmed around the Destiny.

"Why do you keep fighting us?!" Kira exclaimed. "We will change the world and end your suffering!" His mismatched eyes flashed. "We'll give _meaning_ to your suffering!"

The Destiny flashed to life— a blaze of beam wings wiped out four of the Providence's DRAGOONs, and Rau and Kira drew back in surprise.

"_The world does not belong to you!_" Shinn screamed. The Destiny darted forward, crushing two more DRAGOONs with its palm cannons. "_Human beings are not your toys!_" The Destiny charged, obliterating three more DRAGOONs with its beam wings, and lunged up into the Strike Freedom's face, destroying both its beam rifles with a savage twin palm cannon blow and knocking it back with a devastating kick to the chest. "_You have no right to decide my fate for me!_" Shinn cried, as the Destiny rocketed towards the Providence, slicing the last two DRAGOONs out of the sky with its anti-ship sword. Rau opened fire with the Providence's remaining weapons; the Destiny dove out of the way and roared toward him.

Shinn's eyes flashed.

"**_I WON'T LET YOU!_"**

The Destiny charged; Rau's eyes widened in disbelief, and the Providence lurched to the side—

With a shriek of twisting metal, the Destiny's anti-ship sword plunged into the Providence's chest.

Rau leapt out of the sparking cockpit, donning a jetpack, and took off as the Destiny yanked its sword out of the Providence's chest and slashed the mobile suit in half at the waist. The Providence exploded violently— Rau went tumbling down towards Solomon's Sword.

"Kira!" he shouted, as the Strike Freedom moved to protect him. "Defend the Sword! I will restart the charging sequence!"

The Strike Freedom put itself between the Destiny and Solomon's Sword. Kira glowered back at the Destiny.

"You…" he snarled. "Shinn…Asuka…"

Drawing a beam saber and activating its wings, the Strike Freedom charged. Shinn charged back with a scream, bringing his anti-ship sword down with a crash, and the two mobile suits slammed together, sparks ripping the sky around them.

On the surface of Solomon's Sword, Rau glanced back at the dueling Gundams, and with a smile, ducked inside an access hatch.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

The Moon

The beams seared the lunar surface, driving the Calypso back as missiles slammed into it, throwing it back further.

"Dammit!" he snarled. "What the hell can we _do_ to this fucking thing?!"

"We have to get in close!" Shiho insisted, as the Savior spiraled by overhead, dodging a storm of beams. "We can puncture that thing with a beam saber!"

"Well, we have to _get_ there!" Dearka snapped, firing off a flurry of missiles. They streaked up towards the Destroy X3, but could only raise a cloud of smoke as they slammed into the positron shield.

"How powerful _is_ that shield?!" Yzak cried, lunging up to hurl both of his beam boomerangs at the Destroy. They streaked down towards the hulking machine, slashing over its armor— a beam cannon blast took them both out, and Yzak scowled as he noted only superficial damage to the monster's left arm and right leg.

"Not even the boomerangs could do any damage!" Shiho exclaimed. "Cover me, I'll go in with the saber!"

The Judicator opened fire with another barrage, adding its last railgun shells to the volley and taking off before the Destroy could return fire again. "Like hell you will!" Dearka snapped. "That thing will tear you apart if you get close!"

The Savior dove backwards as beams blocked the way. "Well _someone_ has to!" Shiho shot back.

"I will!" Yzak shouted, drawing both of his beam sabers and roaring up towards the Destroy. "This fucking thing can't be invincible!"

A wave of beams came streaking down towards the Calypso— Yzak artfully dodged them, deflecting the rest with his beam shields and charging with a scream. The missiles came in next, slamming into the Calypso and forcing it back— Yzak squeezed his eyes shut as the explosions flashed around him. The Destroy ignited its left-hand beam saber and swung towards the stunned Calypso—

"_Yzak!_"

Yzak's eyes widened in disbelief as the Calypso shuddered violently, flying backward. He looked down, shocked—

…just in time to watch the Destroy's saber slice through the Judicator.

"_DEARKA!_" screamed Yzak. Inside the dying Judicator, Dearka smirked back.

"Tell Milly I'm sorry," he said, his voice broken by static, "but duty called!"

The Judicator exploded.

Yzak's eyes flashed in horror, watching his best friend die. He saw a seed burst before him— he turned his burning eyes up towards the hulking, triumphant Destroy.

"You _BASTARD!_"

The Calypso roared up towards the Destroy, brandishing its sabers— the Destroy fired back with its mouth cannon, forcing the Calypso back on the defensive. Yzak's eyes flickered furiously as the Calypso spiraled back under a hail of beam cannon shots.

"Yzak!" Shiho exclaimed, dropping in next to him and pounding a plasma cannon volley back at the unstoppable Destroy. "We have to try getting around it!"

Yzak scowled in rage, charging back up towards the Destroy.

"_I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Force Impulse shuddered as the beams slammed into its shield, driving it back. Aoma raised her beam rifle to fire back, but another beam shot pierced it— cursing under her breath, she hurled it up towards the Destroy X5, pulling back as her rifle exploded. The Destroy raised its right arm, activating its saber, and brought it down on the Impulse's shield with a crash.

"Dammit," she growled, "I can't take this thing on with just a beam saber!"

The Destroy opened fire— Aoma went sailing back behind her shield.

"_Minerva_," she shouted, "Sword Silhouette!"

On the _Minerva_, Meyrin glanced at Arthur— he nodded dourly. "Roger," she answered, "launching the Silhouette!"

"Fire every missile we've got!" cried Arthur. "Cover her while she swaps parts!"

The _Minerva_ rumbled, as a hurricane of missiles came shrieking out of its hull, slamming into the Destroy with ruthless precision. Aoma abandoned the Force Silhouette, spiraling up with the bare Impulse and docking with the Sword Silhouette. The Phase Shift flashed back to life, a brilliant red— Aoma grinned as the Force Impulse became the Sword Impulse.

Drawing her anti-ship swords with a flash, she took off again. "This is more like it!" she exclaimed, combining her anti-ship swords. "Come on, you overgrown bastard, let's see you take me now!"

The Destroy swung its saber again— Aoma knocked it aside, putting all her force behind her dual sword and charging up towards the behemoth. It fired back with its mouth cannon— Aoma somersaulted over its shot and hurled both of her beam boomerangs at the monster, tearing into its left shoulder and its right arm. The monster fired back— Aoma ducked between its shots, and charged, blocking its saber blow with her swords.

"Hurry!" Arthur urged. "We don't have time for this thing!"

"I'm trying!" Aoma shot back. The Sword Impulse charged again, twirling its swords over its head, and stormed in to slam them against the Destroy's left-hand saber. "Dammit…this thing won't beat me here!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"You…you are always in our way!" Kira shouted. The Strike Freedom surged, throwing the Destiny back. Kira fired a Callidus shot forward at the Destiny; Shinn narrowed his eyes, batting it aside with his beam shield. "I won't let you stand in our way any longer!" Kira cried, charging down towards the Destiny. "This world has to change! We can't let it go back to its old cycle of war and killing!" The two Gundams slammed together again, circling each other and darting apart from their momentum. "It's been like this for thousands of years! But no more! This is the war that will end that cycle forever!"

"Damn you...!" Shinn growled, ducking underneath a furious saber swipe. The Strike Freedom roared forward, saber upraised.

"That is the past that we always forget!" Kira screamed. "_That is the past that I will show the world!_" The Gundams crashed together again; Shinn ground his teeth, pressing his anti-ship sword up to block the Strike Freedom's saber. "I won't let it all happen again!" Kira shouted. "I won't let them die again! _I WON'T LET FLLAY DIE AGAIN!_"

The two machines jolted apart, and the Strike Freedom pointed its saber combatively at the Destiny. Shinn stared wide-eyed at his gleaming opponent.

"I protected her!" Kira shouted. "I fought for her! I loved her! But Athrun took her away from me! She died, on the battlefield; he shot her down! She died for nothing, but I won't let it be that way! I won't let her death be in vain!" The Strike Freedom charged. "_I WON'T LET HER DIE AGAIN!_"

The Strike Freedom lunged down towards the Destiny; Shinn snarled and took off, dodging three vicious saber swipes and swinging back horizontally with his sword. Screaming, Kira slammed his saber down against the sword's blade, stopping the blow and leaving the Gundams locked together.

"_That_ is why I fight!" Kira screamed. "And _that_ is why _YOU WILL NOT STOP US!_" The Strike Freedom roared forward, shoving the Destiny back; Shinn grunted angrily as the Destiny went hurtling away. "I will not let you stand in the way of a better world!"

"A better world?!" Shinn echoed.

The Strike Freedom fired its Callidus and railguns; Shinn skirted aside, firing back with his long cannon, but the Strike Freedom effortlessly danced around his shot and stormed back down towards him.

"This is the final war that will remake the world!" Kira shouted. The Gundams slammed together again; Kira forced them apart with a burst of thruster exhaust, and, eyes flashing, launched his DRAGOONs in a blaze of sapphire light. "Everyone will open their eyes! Everyone will see the blood they've spilled! Everyone will see the hatred in their hearts! And they will _learn!_"

The Strike Freedom charged again, brandishing its saber, as the DRAGOONs swarmed around the Destiny, firing a wave of blazing beam shots around it.

"I will show the world our pain!" he cried. "I will make them see our tears! And the world _WILL CHANGE!_"

"You fool!" Shinn shouted. "You can't break the cycle by killing everyone! You're just repeating it!"

The Strike Freedom roared down into the Destiny's face; the sword and beam saber clashed in a shower of sparks, the Gundams' eyes flashing.

"You don't know anything!" Kira screamed.

"Of course I don't know!" Shinn shot back. "I'm only a human! And _you're no different!_"

"_What?!_" Kira exclaimed, his eye widening— with a crash, Shinn delivered a punishing kick to the Strike Freedom's chest, sending it reeling back. He raised his anti-ship sword, taking off after the careening Strike Freedom; Kira shook his head violently and took off over the Destiny's head, Shinn in hot pursuit, dodging DRAGOON fire.

"You think you're the only one who suffered?!" Shinn screamed. "What about all the people _you've_ killed?!" The Destiny lunged up above the Strike Freedom and came down with a relentless sword stroke; the Strike Freedom swung its saber horizontally to block it. "Mayu! Kika! Lacus! You killed them all! Don't tell me that you're going to make the world understand your pain to bring us peace! You've been shoving it back on everyone else!" The Destiny swung its sword downward, sending the Strike Freedom careening back; Shinn gave chase with a scream. "You're not going to save the world! You're going to make everyone suffer with you! You _goddamned MONSTER!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Athrun grimaced as the Infinite Justice spiraled out of harm's way, a typhoon of missiles slamming into the lunar surface behind him. He whirled around to return fire, but another wave of beams forced him back again.

"This thing doesn't stop!" he breathed, taking cover behind his beam shield. "There has to be an angle we can attack it from!"

The Akatsuki's remote turrets flashed around the battlefield, pounding the Destroy X2's positron shield with beam shots. "Any angle we fire from will still have that shield in the way!" Mwu answered, diving up to avoid another wave of beams. "We have to get in close with beam sabers!"

Athrun paused to open fire, but his shots landed ineffectually against the Destroy's positron shield. He scowled as the Destroy turned its guns back on him, taking off as the shots followed him through the sky. "Then I'll cover you! You can get through with the Akatsuki's coating!"

"Sounds good to me!" Mwu shouted, switching to the Akatsuki's dual saber and charging through the face of a murderous beam bombardment. The Infinite Justice swept in behind it, spewing beam fire back at the Destroy and drawing its fire.

A wave of missiles came streaking up towards the Akatsuki— Mwu's eyes widened, and he threw up his shield, but too late— the missiles slammed into the Akatsuki's golden armor, blowing off the Shiranui pack, the right leg, and the left arm, punching a hole in the cockpit. Mwu ground his teeth as he was sprayed with shrapnel, the Akatsuki slamming down into the Destroy's outstretched left arm. Mwu looked up, finding another missile streaking towards the open cockpit.

"Too late!" he roared— the Akatsuki plunged its saber down into the Destroy's arm.

The missile slammed into the Akatsuki's cockpit as the Destroy's arm exploded, and a moment later, the golden mobile suit vanished in a blazing fireball.

Athrun's eyes widened in horror. "_MWU!_"

The Destroy staggered back, glowering down at the smoldering stump that had once been its left arm. Athrun's eyes flashed, his blood boiling. If he had been the one to close in instead of Mwu—

The Destroy opened fire with its remaining guns, forcing Athrun back on the defensive.

"You goddamned monster," Athrun growled. "_I'LL KILL YOU!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

With acrobatic elegance, the Gaia dodged a chest cannon barrage from the hulking Destroy X4. Stella glowered up at her towering foe, ducking aside from another beam blaze and charging down close. The Destroy ignited its right hand saber— Stella gracefully somersaulted over the blade and stabbed her own saber down into the Destroy's arm, just behind its wrist. The Destroy lurched back as its arm exploded.

"Stella!" Auel shouted. "Get out of the way!"

The Gaia backflipped up over the Abyss's head as Auel fired off another punishing shell cannon volley, smashing the mouth cannon on the stunned Destroy's head. It glowered back with its one remaining eye, returning fire— the Abyss ducked aside behind its shoulder shells, as missiles from the Chaos's weapon pods came streaking down to crater the Destroy's armor, and beam shots slammed against the positron reflector.

"This thing isn't invincible!" Sting shouted. "Stella, go!"

The Gaia took off again, charging towards the Destroy as it staggered back. The backpack came to life with a withering beam barrage— Stella vaulted over it and slashed both of the Destroy's long backpack cannons in two, blowing them apart and forcing the Destroy to stumble forward under the force of the blast.

"Now take _THIS!_" Auel screamed— the Abyss streaked in, smashing its beam lance into the Destroy's chest cannons and crushing all three of them. The Destroy swiped down at the Abyss with its left-hand saber— Auel ducked aside from the blow and crushed the Destroy's chest cannons with another shell cannon blow.

"We can beat this thing!" Sting cried— the Chaos lunged up in front of the Destroy, ripping its cockpit open with a beam claw-assisted kick. The Destroy opened fire again before he could follow it up, forcing him back on the defensive. "I got the cockpit open! Someone just needs to get one more shot in!"

Stella scowled, arcing around the Destroy, and glared up as its one burning eye stared back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

The Moon

Lurching through the Destroy X5's desperate firepower, Aoma's eyes flashed as she brought her sword to bear. The Destroy slammed back with both of its beam sabers, shattering one end of the Sword Impulse's dual anti-ship sword. Aoma pulled back, brandishing the remaining sword, and slashed off the Destroy's left arm between the elbow and wrist, blasting the entire arm apart with a thunderous explosion.

"I've got it weakened!" Aoma shouted, drawing back and charging again, sword extended. "Let me just aim for the cockpit!"

The Destroy hacked its way out of the smoke, opening fire with its remaining beam cannons. Aoma's eyes widened— the cannons tore her mobile suit apart, ripping the Chest Flyer to pieces, sending the Silhouette spiraling away, tearing the Leg Flyer apart. The shredded remains of the Impulse exploded behind her— Aoma's eyes flashed as she extended the Impulse's remaining arm, pointing the sword forward.

"_I'm not done yet!_" she shouted.

The Sword Impulse slammed its sword into the Destroy's cockpit. Aoma ejected the Core Splendor a split second before the Impulse's remains met a fiery end on the Destroy's armor, and took off towards the _Minerva_.

"We can't hesitate!" Arthur cried. "Tannhäuser, _FIRE!_"

The _Minerva_'s main cannon fired— a shimmering red beam tore forward towards the crippled Destroy, slamming into it head-on and drilling through its armored hide. With a deafening blast, the Destroy exploded, and finally died.

The _Minerva_ turned towards Solomon's Sword.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Destroy X4 quaked as the Chaos's weapon pods blazed around it, slamming it with beam cannon shots and a storm of missiles. Down below, the Abyss squeezed off another shell cannon burst, pounding the shots in around the Destroy's damaged cockpit.

"Dammit!" Auel snapped, taking off to avoid another beam cannon blaze. "Hold still!"

The Gaia rocketed forward, brandishing its saber, ducking through a tangle of beam cannon blasts.

"Stella!" Sting shouted, leveling off his beam rifle and firing. "We'll cover you!"

The Abyss fired down another beam cannon barrage, pounding into the Destroy's remaining arm— the Chaos lunged up and slammed both of its beam claws through the arm, wiping it out in a thunderous blaze. The Destroy staggered back, exposing its open cockpit— Stella charged in with a scream— the Destroy angled its beam cannons towards her—

With a shriek of twisting metal, Stella plunged her saber into the Destroy's cockpit and ripped its armor open. She kicked off the sparking machine's surface— Auel and Sting lined up and opened fire, blasting a wave of beams into the Destroy's wound.

A moment later, the Destroy vanished in a towering fireball.

"Suck on _that!_" Auel said triumphantly. Sting glanced over at Stella, and followed her gaze towards Solomon's Sword.

"We still have to take care of _that,_" he said ominously.

Auel grinned. "Then let's go!"

The three Gundams took off with a flash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Outside, the DRAGOONs flashed around the Destiny again; Shinn slipped by them with a trail of blinding afterimages, rocketing up towards the Strike Freedom.

"You…" Kira began, his hands trembling. "Only you!"

The Strike Freedom fired its Callidus down at the Destiny; Shinn skirted aside, but a moment later, the DRAGOONs were upon him again, firing around him and forcing him back. He growled angrily, retracting his sword and returning it to its backpack rack, to activate his palm cannons and charge back up at the Strike Freedom.

Inside the Strike Freedom, Kira narrowed his eye at the charging Destiny, as its palms flashed with white light.

"_I WILL NOT LET YOU MAKE FLLAY DIE AGAIN!_"

The Strike Freedom sent the Destiny reeling back with a scything kick to the face, and followed up with a jarring second blow to the stomach. The Destiny went careening back; Kira drew back his saber and charged for the finishing blow.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Orb Raiders dreadnaught _Megami_

"Keep pressing forward!" Murrue cried. "Get as close as you can and hit this thing at point-blank range!"

The _Megami_ tore forward, guns blazing, even as its Murasame contingent dwindled and mobile suits and warships pounded its laminated hull with beams and missiles. Murrue narrowed her eyes as Solomon's Sword approached. Lacus had died to get them here— there could be no failure.

"The Destiny is still engaging the Freedom!" Miriallia reported.

"Can we communicate?!" Murrue asked.

"No ma'am! There's too much interference!"

Murrue's eyes darkened. "We have to keep going!" she shouted. "For the sake of everyone who has died here already, we cannot give up until that thing is scrap metal!"

The crew nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes ma'am!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

Inside the Destiny, Shinn felt the world fade away. The Strike Freedom before him, a dark apparition with blazing blue wings, slowly vanished. He saw the shape closing the distance between them, driving its saber into the Destiny's cockpit, killing him…and he could not move.

His senses flashed to life; he felt a presence behind him; no, _two— _he looked down, feeling hands over his own.

"_You won't have to face him alone,_" someone said. "_You'll never have to fight alone._"

"_We'll give you our strength,_" added another, "_so that you can be with Stella again._"

Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Kika…Mayu…!" he exclaimed, looking down, finding their hands over his, gently pressing them over the Destiny's controls. He felt strength surge through him. "I…"

White Newtype energy ripped the air around him. Shinn's eyes darkened with a flash as he looked up at the charging Strike Freedom.

"_I can see!_"

The Destiny fired its booster, balling its right fist and charging with a furious scream from Shinn; Kira's eye widened in disbelief, and a moment later, the Strike Freedom was sent reeling back from a powerful punch to the face. The Destiny backed away, its beam wings shimmering brightly, its eyes blazing menacingly.

"I can see him…" Shinn murmured. "And…and _I'll kill him!_"

The Destiny drew its anti-ship sword with a flash and charged towards the Strike Freedom, bringing it down with a crash. Kira grunted angrily, backing away and swarming the DRAGOONs around the Destiny; Shinn skirted their shots effortlessly, charging back up and stabbing forward with his sword.

"Rey was right about you!" Shinn screamed. "_Your existence cannot be forgiven!_"  
"Neither can yours!" Kira shouted back. Shinn scowled as the Strike Freedom tried to fence him in with another DRAGOON volley; Kira fired another Callidus shot, but Shinn spiraled over it and came storming up into the Strike Freedom's face again. "You have such power, you can understand anyone, you can protect anyone, but you don't use them for the greater good!" The Strike Freedom fired back with its DRAGOONs, forcing the Destiny back behind its beam shields. "You don't deserve to have those powers!" The DRAGOONs fired; the beams blazed towards the Destiny; Shinn's eyes flashed furiously—

The Destiny leapt through the blazing web of beam shots and brought its sword down onto the Strike Freedom's saber with a harrowing crash. Kira's eye widened in disbelief.

"_You don't have the right to tell me that!_" Shinn shrieked, surging forward and throwing Kira back. The Strike Freedom fired back with a Callidus shot, mustering its DRAGOONs around the Destiny— Shinn easily dodged the blast and stormed ahead of the DRAGOONs, swinging horizontally at the Strike Freedom's waist, and Kira barely caught the blow with his saber. "_You don't have the right to decide life and death!_" The Destiny kicked the Strike Freedom in the face; again Kira managed to recover just in time to block a second sword stroke. "_YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE!_"

"You're wrong!" Kira shouted. The Strike Freedom tried to swing back with its saber; Shinn blocked Kira's blow with his beam shield and surged forward, as the DRAGOONs opened fire again.

"I'll show you 'wrong!'" Shinn snarled. "I'll show you _YOURSELF!_"

The Destiny sent the Strike Freedom reeling backward with another kick to the stomach, and charged after it. Kira grunted, firing a Callidus shot up towards the Destiny— screaming, Shinn smacked it aside with his beam shield and plowed forward, bringing his sword back down violently onto the Strike Freedom's saber.

"You'll repeat the same mistakes again!" Kira cried. "Open your eyes!"

"I won't let them see the same world you want to create!" Shinn screamed back.

The Destiny vaulted up over the Strike Freedom, its sword crashing down again. Kira jetted backward, swarming the DRAGOONs around the Destiny— Shinn effortlessly dodged their shots, sending the blasts streaking harmlessly through shimmering afterimages. The Destiny roared back up into the Strike Freedom's face with another sword blow.

"This kind of fighting…!" Kira growled. "_Why?!"_

Shinn's eyes flashed. "The future does not belong to you!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

The Moon

The Savior landed with a crash, pausing to squeeze off another plasma cannon burst at the towering Destroy X3, and then leap back up to dodge a follow-up salvo. Nearby, in the Calypso, Yzak glanced urgently over his shoulder. There was another Destroy— _another_ Destroy— fighting with the Infinite Justice.

"If we can turn these things against each other," Yzak grunted, "we might be able to hit them while they're distracted!"

"Just lure this one closer to the other one!" Shiho said. "I'll cover you!" The Savior lunged up in front of the Calypso, firing off its plasma cannons and pounding shots against the Destroy's positron shield.

Yzak squeezed off a hyper impulse cannon blast, landing it on the Destroy's shoulder. A swarm of missiles came slamming down into him, forcing him back behind his beam shields. He looked up in surprise— a red blast came storming towards him—

And then the Savior was there, speared through the chest by the Destroy's mouth cannon shot.

"This is the best I could do, Yzak," he heard Shiho's voice say. "Take care of this thing for me!"

The Savior vanished in a ball of fire.

"_SHIHO!_" Yzak screamed, as the blast threw him back. Up above, the Destroy stomped after him, beam cannons blazing. Yzak took off over the lunar surface, lunging up and latching onto the Destroy X2's backpack. He whirled around to face the X3— a storm of beam blasts came streaking towards him.

Yzak's eyes flashed.

"_I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL YOU BASTARD!"_

The blasts ripped through the Calypso, tearing through the Destroy from behind. Yzak felt everything melt away, and as the world dimmed, he closed his eyes.

"Zala," he murmured, "I'll leave everything to you…"

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Destroy X2 erupted into a blaze of fire as beam shots pierced its armor. Athrun stared in disbelief, taking cover behind his beam shield, as the X2 was blown apart. He stared through the smoke, as a voice echoed through his head.

"_Zala…I'll leave everything to you…_"

Athrun realized in horror that Yzak was dead.

Up ahead, the Destroy X3 loomed in surprise, staring at the wreckage of its comrade. Athrun's eyes flashed.

"You _MONSTERS!_" he screamed, rocketing forward. The Destroy paused for a moment before opening fire— Athrun slipped easily through the barrage, instinct and fury guiding him. "You've taken _EVERYTHING!_" The Destroy's fire grew more desperate. "_I WON'T LET YOU KILL ANYONE ELSE!_"

Athrun raised his beam carry shield, firing the Grapple Stinger forward. It bit down into the Destroy's cockpit hatch— Athrun roared forward, retracting the line and streaking in, igniting his beam boomerang blade. The Destroy angled its guns to fire—

With a scream, Athrun drove the boomerang blade into the Destroy's cockpit; still screaming, he slashed the cockpit open, forced the sides of the wound apart with the Infinite Justice's legs, and pumped beam rifle shots into the open cockpit. The Destroy's wound sparked ominously— Athrun pulled back behind his beam shield.

At last, the Destroy collapsed to its knees and exploded.

Athrun watched it die, tears in his eyes.

——————————————————————————————————————————

****

Solomon's Sword

Smiling, Rau threw the final switch, watching gleefully as the charge indicator finally reached 100 percent. Solomon's Sword was finally ready— all that remained was to aim. Everything would be ended— everything would be punished. His suffering would finally end.

He drifted over to the main control panel, setting to work.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The two Gundams met with a crash, sparks flying, as the Strike Freedom and Destiny clashed. The Strike Freedom's DRAGOONs flashed around the Destiny, firing through blazing afterimages as the Destiny brought its sword down onto the Strike Freedom's saber.

"It doesn't matter what you do!" Kira exclaimed. "We'll change the world! You can't stop us!"

"Like hell you will!" Shinn shot back, charging. "You have no right to decide my life!"

The Destiny squeezed off a long cannon shot— the Strike Freedom somersaulted over it, returning fire with its Callidus. Shinn ducked aside and charged up towards Kira, brandishing his sword— Kira brought his saber down, Shinn blocking it with his sword's blade.

"I will not let you tell me that I have to suffer again!" Kira screamed. The Strike Freedom threw the Destiny back with a forceful saber swing, swarming its DRAGOONs around the floundering Destiny. Shinn scowled, drawing back behind his beam shield and letting his afterimages draw the DRAGOONs' fire. "_I will not let you tell me that a world full of war is the only way we can have it!_" The Strike Freedom swung its saber again— Shinn blocked it with his beam shield. "_I WILL NOT LET YOU TELL ME THAT I CAN'T USE MY POWER!_"

"_YOU'RE JUST USING IT TO KILL!_" Shinn screamed back— the Destiny surged, putting its force behind its sword and throwing the Strike Freedom back. Kira growled, moving his DRAGOONs in— Shinn rocketed up towards the Strike Freedom, kicking it in the face and sending it back. "Whoever you are…" The Strike Freedom swung up with its saber, blocking the Destiny's follow-up sword blow. "Whatever you're trying to do…" The Destiny kicked the Strike Freedom in the stomach, throwing it back again. Shinn's eyes flashed. "

_**"I WILL NOT LET YOU HURT STELLA!"**_

A wave of beam blasts lashed through space between the two Gundams, sending them reeling away from each other. Kira blinked in surprise as they slammed against Solomon's Sword, ripping pieces of it apart. He turned in horror, finding himself facing down a Destroy Gundam as it inexorably advanced towards Solomon's Sword.

"No!" he screamed, turning to face the Destroy.

"Kira!" Valentine's voice shouted. Kira glanced in surprise at Messiah, spewing smoke, and realized in agony that it was retreating. "Get back to Messiah! We're pulling out!"

"_What?!_" Kira screamed. "But the Sword— "

"It's too late to save the Sword!" Valentine shouted. "Retreat, and live to fight another day— and I promise you, we will not fail again!"

Kira looked back at the Sword in fury. Once again, Fllay's death would be meaningless.

Bitterly, he recalled his DRAGOONs and took off.

On the _Megami_, Murrue watched in disbelief as the world turned white and everything disappeared. The ship began to shake— the ship began to break apart.

As it did, she closed her eyes.

Inside the Destiny Gundam, Shinn desperately deployed his beam shields as Solomon's Sword began to explode. Chaos, pain, and death surrounded him, crushing him, as the world disappeared in a terrible white light.

He screamed, and everything was gone.

——————————————————————————————————————————

__

Everything was dark again, but this time, Shinn could feel nothing around him. There was a great black void where there had once been teeming life.

"What are you still doing here, Shinn…?"

Shinn looked up painfully, as Kika's voice echoed around him.

"…am I…dead?" he murmured.

He looked around, hearing Kika giggle at him, but saw nothing.

"That depends," she answered. "Do you want to be?"

Shinn blinked for a moment. "…no," he said.

"Then you aren't dead," Kika said— Shinn imagined her smile. "Stella is coming. You two will be together again."

Shinn looked around for Kika again. "I'm sorry…" he said, closing his eyes. "I couldn't protect you…or…anyone…" He glanced over to the side, in the direction of that great, sickening void. "Not even the Earth…"

He felt hands over his own, but saw nothing. "I don't hold it against you," Kika said soothingly. "It was a risk we had all prepared for."

"But you died," Shinn protested. "With so much unsaid…"

"I gave to you everything you needed," Kika's voice replied. "You've become a fine young man, and I can always say that I helped make you who you are. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Shinn shook his head, squeezing tears from his eyes. "I…just wanted to protect you," he murmured. "I didn't mean for you to die like that…"

"Maybe we made mistakes when we were together," she admitted, "but I can still say that I love you, Shinn." The hands left his. "But I'm not the only one," she went on. "Now Stella is coming back, and you still have her by your side in this world, whatever it may be."

"Kika…!" Shinn exclaimed, grasping forward, towards her presence.

"I won't be gone forever, Shinn," she said— Shinn saw her smile again. "As long as you remember me, as long as you keep living in spite of the world, as long as you keep these powers and cherish them for their gifts, I won't be gone forever."

Everything began to fade away— Shinn opened his mouth, but could not find the words to speak.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Atlantic Federation Daedalus Crater lunar base, the Moon**

"What's going on out there!?" Lord Djibril barked.

He surveyed the scene on the control room's sweeping monitors. The ZAFT fleet was clawing for distance, around the maimed form of their precious headquarters, Messiah. Their superweapon had exploded— the Destroy Gundam had been critically damaged in the blast. But was this the end?

"The ZAFT fleet is in full retreat, sir!" one of the deckhands answered. "Solomon's Sword has been destroyed! Destroy Unit X1 is reporting massive damage!"

"Get me the President!" Djibril roared.

"Impossible, sir!" another man answered. "President Copland has gone missing!"

Djibril scowled. "Our victory is being tainted," he snarled. "Send our fleet to destroy the ZAFT forces before they can escape!"

"But sir, our fleet has sustained 40 casualties!" another soldier responded.

Djibril crossed his arms and fumed. "We have won only one battle," he growled to himself. "And they will return."

Furiously, he stalked out of the control room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT battleship _Minerva_**

Arthur had left the bridge as soon as Solomon's Sword was destroyed. But that was not typical— the _Minerva_ had not yet left combat, and so it was against protocol for the captain to leave the bridge. But Malik had taken command temporarily, and Burt was guiding Aoma's battered Core Splendor back into the hangar.

To that end, Meyrin found herself drifting numbly down the halls to the Vice Captain's bunk, hoping to retrieve the ship's new commander. Her surroundings hardly registered— everyone had died. There was nothing left inside her— the PLANTs were gone, her sister was gone, even her captain was gone. And ZAFT's last gambit had failed…and even then, she could not explain why she had thrown herself into the fight to stop Solomon's Sword.

She paused at the door of Arthur's room. He was their leader now.

She opened the door, and felt the blood drain from her face. She looked around urgently, finding a handful of tired crewmembers in the halls. "Help!" she screamed; they looked at her in surprise, rushing over to her. "Get help! A doctor! Get the doctor!"

The crewmembers rushed off towards the infirmary, as Meyrin looked back at Arthur's bloody body, the gun still in his hand.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The battle was over; the battlefield was silent as Athrun Zala rode the Infinite Justice back to the Megami. There were tears in his eyes, but he could no longer feel them.

He looked up ahead, at a strange field of wreckage. He reached out with his senses, struggling to find something familiar, and in a flash of pain, he realized that the wreckage before him was that of the _Megami_.

He bowed his head and wept.

As they cruised away from the Moon, Sting glanced over his shoulder, back at what was left of the Daedalus Crater base. He glanced over at Auel— they both nodded grimly. The Chaos and Abyss turned to face the Moon, their cockpit hatches opening. Sting and Auel stepped out, straightened up, and saluted the cloud of smoke that still hung over the remains of the _Girty Lue._

Stella scanned the black skies. "Shinn…" she murmured. "Where's Shinn?"

Sting and Auel hopped back into their machines. "He isn't around here?" Sting asked quietly.

"Stella has to find Shinn…!" Stella insisted. The Gaia took off— Sting and Auel glanced at each other, taking off after her.

Nearby, Athrun blinked in surprise, his eyes still filled with tears, as Stella's insistent face appeared on his screen.

"Shinn!" she exclaimed. "Where's Shinn?!"

"I don't know," Athrun answered, a terrible feeling welling up inside of him. "I didn't see where he was." The Infinite Justice peeled off, moving up near the Gaia, Chaos, and Abyss.

Stella looked around frantically, her eyes wide, as she worked at the Gaia's sensors, trying to find Shinn. He couldn't be gone; not after all they had been through. He had promised to live, to protect her. She was going to take him to the sea.

"Shinn…"

She looked up at the debris-choked space before her; a familiar sensation pricked at her senses, a white bolt of energy cut the air in front of her, and she looked up ahead, eyes wide.

"Shinn?!"

The Destiny Gundam drifted up ahead among the wreckage of Solomon's Sword, pitted, battered, and scarred…but still whole. Shinn drifted in front of its open cockpit, staring blankly at the Earth. He blinked and looked down at the sparkles of light in front of him. "...my...tears...?" He looked back at the Earth.

The Destiny's sensors beeped; Shinn blinked in surprise and glanced to his left. The Gaia was coming towards him; behind it were the Chaos, the Abyss, and the Infinite Justice, and behind them was the dim, battle-scarred form of the _Minerva_.

"Stella...?"

The Gaia's cockpit hatch opened; Stella jumped out and pushed off towards off towards Shinn, her arms wide open, smiling brightly.

Shinn took her in his arms; she smiled and hugged him, and Shinn looked up at the Earth.

"Is it over, Shinn…?" Stella asked quietly.

Shinn turned his gaze back towards Stella, safe in his arms, and smiled.

"Yeah, Stella…it's over."

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****

ZAFT mobile space fortress Messiah, en route to Lagrange Point 5

As Kira helped pull another sobbing recruit from his battered mobile suit, he wondered if this was really the way it was supposed to happen.

He handed the young man off to his comrades, swarmed around the cockpit of the maimed GuAIZ R, to let them all sob out the pain of defeat, of sacrifice in vain. He glanced towards his own machine, standing in the corner of one of Messiah's dozens of hangars. The Strike Freedom Gundam bore the scars of battle, but its job was done. It could rest; it could forget.

Kira Yamato could not.

Tiredly, he returned to Messiah's auxiliary command center. The primary one had been destroyed in the fighting, so the new leader of ZAFT was holed up there.

The soldiers in the hallways moved like automatons, and Kira thought back bitterly to the day he had arrived on the _Pythagoras_ in CE 71, a lifetime ago. Everything had been taken from them, and now they had to square themselves with the painful realization that they hadn't even won their final battle.

Kira emerged into the cramped auxiliary command center. At the front of the room, Valentine Sunogachi turned to face him.

"Kira," she said, seeming somewhat surprised. "We're evacuating every inhabitant of what's left of the PLANTs and we're heading for Mars." She glanced darkly at the images of the Earth emblazoned on several of the room's screens. "Even in our darkest hour, not all is lost. We will evacuate the Earth Sphere and take refuge at Mars."

Kira looked past her, at the Earth. "We're going to be exiles?"

Valentine turned back towards the screen, her eyes alight with quiet fury. "No," she said. "We will be back."

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****

January 18th, CE 74 - Ex-ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, Earth orbit

"I started out here…and I ended here."

Shinn Asuka reflected bitterly on the irony of it all. The _Minerva_ had been the only ship left to go to— as if he was going to go to an Alliance ship— and nobody seemed to care anymore anyway. The _Minerva_'s remaining Impulse Gundam unit had taken off not long after Shinn had landed, with Stella, Sting, Auel, and Athrun in tow, and Shinn had arrived to find no one in command.

Ultimately, they had pressed Meyrin into the role, because Malik's skills at the helm were apparently too valuable to be sacrificed in the captain's chair. Shinn had a hard time seeing Meyrin as the commander of anything, but the _Minerva_ was still in one piece, and— although she was relying very heavily on the advice of others— she had seen the wisdom of retreating as far from the Moon as possible.

Floating lifelessly in the familiar setting of the observation deck, Shinn stared wearily at the stars. Lord Djibril was setting up his "temporary expansion of the Earth Alliance's administrative authority," and ZAFT had all but disappeared. But what did that mean? Surely Lord Djibril would not relinquish his dizzying perch atop the world, nor would the hounds of Blue Cosmos fail to notice the thousands, if not millions of Coordinators still left in the Earth Sphere.

So what had all those sacrifices been for?

Shinn felt Stella's presence on the other side of the door, and smiled.

——————————————————————————————————————————

End


End file.
